CLIM(Climhazzard)
by JohnnyCQC
Summary: Cloud had won the 4th Super Smash Bros tournament, and while he received a big pot; the pot is not enough for Cloud to keep sustaining himself. Fortunately, a big white glove has an offer for the ex-SOLIDER that will not only have big pay but save an entire planet from destroying itself. New friends, new environment and a whole new adventure with other members of the Smash team!
1. Employment

"Never thought I'd see the day", Cloud thought. The hero of Gaia was inducted into the Smash hall of fame. He was joining the ranks of one of the biggest fighters in the universe. Not only did Master Hand invite Cloud to join the much celebrated Super Smash Bros tournament; Cloud managed to get first place, beating out Sheik/Zelda, Samus, Rosalina, even the newcomers Bayonetta and Corrin.

But what was next for the Ex-Soldier? Sure he had won a good amount from the Smash pot, but it wasn't going to last him forever. As of right now Gaia is at a time of peace. So his mercenary business isn't exactly going to prosper. Fortunately, a big white glove had something to offer for the spiky blond hero.

Master Hand had created a portal that warped cloud back to the home of smashers; the Smash Academy. The academy is basically built like a college campus, spanning several hundred acres and lots of buildings. The Academy is a place where smashers rest while competing, make permanent residence, and fortunately for Cloud, work for other worlds.

Cloud had a puzzled look. "Master Hand, I didn't know you hired for bounty work. I thought you used us for your personal entertainment."

Master Hand laughed hysterically. "Master Hand: "Cloud, I'm not a sadist!"

Cloud Shrugged. "I beg to differ."

He just had a flashback to when he had to test his skills with Master Hand and Crazy Hand. Those were certainly...dark times. Cloud shook his head to chase away the memory. Master Hand snapped his fingers to grab back Cloud's attention. "Seriously, besides bringing in fighters for glory; I bring in fighters to help make our solar system a safer place."Cloud frowned, "You actually would allow us to interfere with other worlds and their conflicts? Where were you when Sephiroth summoned a giant meteor towards us!?"

Cloud frowned, "You actually would allow us to interfere with other worlds and their conflicts? Where were you when Sephiroth summoned a giant meteor towards us!?"

Master crossed his fingers together in embarrassment. "Well, your conflict is older than the establishment."

Cloud crossed his arms. "That's the best excuse you got?"

Master Hand gave the sonic wave with the index finger. "We're getting off topic. Cloud, I didn't just come to you just because you needed work. I came to you and others to help a planet that is on a path of destruction."

Master Hand used his power to display a projection of the said planet. "This is Remnant. Home to a power source known as Dust. Similar to the Materia you have back in Gaia. This planet is filled with forces and creatures known as the Grimm. Mankind waged a battle of survival against them. Dust is used to power abilities and Weapons. Those who use Dust to battle are known as Huntsmen and Huntresses."

Cloud couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "If they have guys that have similar powers to what I use back in Gaia, can't they take care of themselves?"

Master Hand gave a thumb down gesture. "Against the Grimm? Maybe. But from what Ozpin has told me, there is a threat that he senses that will be far bigger than anything Remnant has seen in its entire history."

"Is Ozpin the guy who sought for our help? Ozpin must be pretty desperate to get outside help. He is especially desperate getting help from an establishment run by a giant hand. How does he even know about Super Smash Bros?" Cloud asked.

Master Hand projected a selfie of him and the employer. "I and Ozpin go way back. He caught me when I was scanning the planet to learn about the creatures that inhabit the land. He took me back to his academy known as Beacon where Huntsman and Huntresses train and taught me about Remnant's culture and history."

"I'm guessing this Ozpin guy is their headmaster?"

Master Hand gave a thumb up. "Correct, and if the headmaster of a prestigious school needs help. Then this is serious business. Cloud, can you do this for me not just as a job, but as a personal favor to me. It also helps that the pay is well."

Cloud thought long and hard. Personally, saving his own world took a lot out of him. Having to save another world from the brink of destruction just sounded redundant. "This isn't just some simple mercenary work," Cloud thought. "I know I said that I would do anything before, but this is a little much." The man closed his eyes and had his head aimed towards the ground with his arms crossed. Master Hand had all the patience in the world to wait for the spiky blonde hero to respond. Cloud raised his head and gave a strong stare at the giant pale glove. "Under the condition that you would be the one to tell the guys back at home what I'm up to."

Master Hand gave a shivering thumbs up."But of course! I would never want to piss off Tifa!

A sweat drop was traveling down Cloud's face. "Believe me, that's the last thing we need."

Master Hand pulled out a list from thin air. Cloud could never get used to the powers that this being possessed. "I have already arranged the preparations necessary for this job just in case you said yes. To make things easier, you'll be going in two groups of four with other members of the Smash academy."

Cloud let out a sigh of relief. "Good to know that their world's fate won't be entirely my fault."


	2. The Party

"He sure knows how to form a team." Cloud thought as he looked at his crew. A hero from the land of Hyrule who single-handedly drove away the dark forces that swept the land. A lad who is a mercenary like Cloud, who is known as the Radiant Hero of Legend, and lead the Greil Mercenaries to victory. Last but not least, the Hero-King himself, who saved not only his kingdom but his entire world. "You guys aren't hurting on cash are you?"

The whole room filled with laughter.

"As I recall, you won the Smash pot. You should be anything but hurting," Marth retorted.

Cloud gave a shrug and put his hands in the air. "Can't rely on it forever, especially when most of my pot will be used to help with the slums back in Midgar."

Ike had just got done chugging a good amount of lager before slamming it on the table. "And like you, I need to sustain myself. We're both mercenaries after all."

"Personally, I like the adventure. There's not much to do in Hyrule now that it's in a time of peace. But anything could happen so a journey like this will keep me sharp," Link said with a determined tone.

Cloud couldn't help but feel at home. They're not team AVALANCHE, but they're a good set of people to add to his roster of people he liked. The Smash Academy was home not only to amazing talent but good hearted people. Even when those people are Bowser and Ganondorf. "Seriously guys, I couldn't have picked better people to have my back."

Marth chuckled at the warm-hearted comment. "Honestly Cloud, I thought you were going to be the dark lone wolf type when I first met you."

Cloud gave a shrug with a light hand gesture. "Those are Squalls. They tend to rain on everyone's parade."

The room filled with laughter once more. The gang was in The Smash Academy's famous bar. Home to a variety of food, and exotic alcoholic beverages. They were preparing for one last celebration before heading out to do meddle with another planet's problem. The night passed on as if time had pushed fast forward.

"It's time already?" The 1st Class SOLDIER was getting prepared to meet with his team at the entrance of the Smash Academy. He got on his standard dark purple SOLDIER uniform equipped with the Buster sword. He put the rest of his items, clothes, Materia, and Fusion sword in Master Hand's magic bag of holding. It works like a trans-dimensional bank that connects the bag to Master Hand's vault.

Cloud made it to the front of the building only to see that Master Hand had a portal ready to send the poor souls to deal with a planet that had nothing to do with them. He caught a glimpse of the second team that would be tagging along: Shulk, Robin, Samus, and Corrin. The blond garbed in red had Cloud's full attention due to his giddy behavior. The late teen old spent a lot of his early years in the lab, figuring out the wonders of his world. "Are you guys as excited as I am!? I get to explore a new world, study a new power source, and potently make new weapons! Dunban can't tell me that I don't get out often anymore."

Robin, while the same as Shulk in terms of being an intellectual individual, didn't exactly have the same overly enthusiastic persona. "You're like a puppy. You're so easily amused Shulk.""He won't be amused if these Grimm

"He won't be amused if these Grimm are as scary as Master Hand makes them out to be," Samus said with a harsh tone.

"If they're as scary as he says their going to be. Then bring it! Let's do this!" Corrin yelled with much enthusiasm. The dragon warrior had her dragon aura surround her entire body with the armor spiking up. Cloud was surprised that no one was treating this like a job. Master Hand made Remnant sound like a place of hell. Cloud was reassured however, that his comrades were full of energy. At least, they won't be lazy. Plus to add the icing on the cake, they had infamous scary bounty hunter Samus.

Shulk smiled at Corrin's support. "That's the spirit, Corrin! See? At least, someone else is just as pumped!"

Shulk pumped his first into the air and got into his fighting stance with the other hand on the Monado. "Alright everyone, now say it with me! I'M REALLY FEELING IT!"

Samus made the hardest face palm, Robin pulled the hood of his cloak, and Link gave a cockeyed look and scratched his head. Marth put on his traditional 'as if' pose before a battle where he brings his hair back. Ike had to use all restraint from wanting to say it. The Greil Mercenary didn't want to embarrass himself by being the minority. Corrin however, gave it her all to support Shulk. "I'M REALLY FEELING IT!"

Shulk begin to look dead ahead at our spiky hero. Cloud was not enjoying this one bit. "Cloud, you know you want to! Help a friend out!"

Cloud let out a big sigh. This wasn't some kind of vacation where they could relax and bet on Chocobo racing. There was an urge in Cloud that wanted to blurt out something entirely different, however. He fought, and he fought, but he couldn't resist the urge any longer. He looked at everyone, and then made his way to the portal. "Alright everyone, let's mosey!"

"Aw, Cloud does have a personality," Corrin said jokingly.

Cloud just shook his and walked right in with the whole gang following right after. Master Hand waved and made a phone gesture. "Remember, communication is key; don't forget to use the IPhones I got for you guys. Apple likes to charge up the butt for those things."


	3. The Arrival

**WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!** That would be the sound most appropriate for the current situation. The portal trip didn't go as planned. The two teams all had grabbed onto each other to form a circle, trying to keep each other from separation from the force of the portal. Ike was probably the most furious. Surprising for a man who spends his time spinning to get back onto a platform in Smash. "I thought this was supposed to be a simple walk onto the other side!" Ike screamed.

"You know, I've finally realized why no one likes being hit by my smash attack. I'm going to be sick," Corrin said with a weak tone.

Robin saw the dragon warrior with the greenest face. He didn't like where this was going one bit; Especially with Robin being in the line of fire.

"Corrin, it's very kind of you wanting to share your breakfast, but alas I'm full," Robin said sarcastically.

Corrin looked at Robin with her eyes barely open. "Oh god…it won't hit you anyways. If we're going in a circle, it'll probably hit Marth."

Marth eyes got big and shut them back praying to the goddess that he doesn't have breakfast all over him. Link was doing his best to reassure Marth that it wasn't going to be that bad. "Well, there goes the breakfast you missed earlier."

The leader of the Shulk squad wasn't looking so hot either. Thinking he might not get another chance, he let out one final catchphrase."Yeah, I'm really feeling it..."

Try as they might, the forces of the portal were pulling them apart one by one like they were in some kind of tornado. Cloud was worried, he knew that everyone could take care of themselves. They were being transported into the unknown, and the last thing they need is separation. Cloud used his last remaining strength to try and keep Samus together with his left arm. Ike was to his right, but that soon become too much for him and his arm gave out. Ike was flailing to the distance, and let out his signature howl whenever he gets flown away from the smash ring.

Cloud looked at Samus, trying to reassure her that he was not going to let go. Samus on the other hand wasn't so sure if he could keep up. "I won't be upset if you can't keep this up."

Cloud gave a smirk. "I'd be upset if you can't. You have a reputation to keep Samus!"

Samus frowned and used what energy she had left to punch him in the gut. Cloud flinched and let out a small grunt and gave her the most pissed off look."HEY! I'm trying to keep us from getting separated over here!"

Samus gave out the most devious smile. "Sorry, hand slipped."

Cloud couldn't keep this up, his arm felt like he had been arm wrestling Bowser for an entire night. He looked into Samus' eyes and gave her the nod. Samus knew what was going to happen, so she braced herself for what was to come. "Don't get yourself killed! I know how you fight in battle you hot-head!"

Cloud gave one last retort for the bounty hunter. "And you might want to put on your armor when you get there. That face doesn't exactly scream friendly."

With just one finger keeping them together, the two blondes have finally separated into the rage of the portal. Finally, Cloud saw the light and he was heading there full speed. It was like being on a roller coaster with no rails and safety measures. Finally, phasing through the light, Cloud crashed right onto a street. Cloud was slowly getting up from the impact, dusted off his clothes and slapped his face back into reality. "Well, no flower bed this time. I guess I can't keep relying on that forever."

Cloud checked his surroundings to find that straight ahead was a store called "From Dust till Dawn." He remembered what Master Hand had told him about Dust. If it's anything like Materia, surely he can manipulate the element to his advantage to make the job easier. Cloud couldn't help but noticed something odd about the store however. From the outside, it looked like an innocent humble shop. But on the inside that humble shop had a robbery taking place. Cloud took notice of the man with a white coat, a cane, top hat, and orange hair. He saw a couple of other men in black suits as well.

Something was rubbing Cloud the wrong way while this whole event was transpiring. There was a little girl in there with a guy pointing a red sword towards her. She didn't move an inch. A couple of seconds later the goon removes her hood and she takes off her headphones. And just like that, the goon crashes through the window with the girl bouncing off of him. "Well, that's one way to introduce yourself," cloud thought. The girl stood back up while her weapon was slowly forming into a red scythe, and twirled her weapon fiercely into the concrete.

The man in white was still processing what just happened. "Okay….Get them."

The goons charged right towards the girl as fast as they could.

Cloud readied himself into his fighting stance. "So who's really the bad guy here? The girl with the giant scythe, Or the wannabe gigolo?"

Ruby gave him a grin. "Weather they're good or bad. I think I'd side with the person with the bigger stick."

Cloud chuckled a little and unsheathed his Buster Sword. "You mean this?"

The girl had her mouth wide open in disbelief. She couldn't believe anyone could fight with a weapon that big. Now the little red one was curious to see if he's able to use it effectively. "Um, touche."

One goon tried to go for a swipe, but the girl twirled on her scythe and kicked the living daylights out of him. The two other goons charged forward, but she shot her scythe and used the recoil to hit one goon with the blunt side of the weapon, and ground pounded the other. A goon attempted to spray automatic fire but Ruby pulled the trigger and used the recoil to zip back, left, right, and finally shooting herself forward to launch the goon in the air. She dug her scythe unto the concrete, span around and gave the goon a good hard kick.

The man in white had the most annoyed look on his face. "You were worth every cent. Truly, you were."

He took the cigar out of his mouth to get ready to take this whole event seriously. "Well Red I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening. And as much as I'd love to stick around," as he was making his speech, he aimed his cane towards the little girl and popped out a targeting reticle. "I'm afraid this is where we part ways." Immediately right after the small talk, she shot a red flare and Ruby pulled the trigger to recoil up before his bullet exploded. Ruby came back down and immediately searched for the man only to find him making his escape on a nearby ladder. The old shopkeeper came outside to see what was going on, only to find parts of the street destroyed.

"Mind if I go after him?" Ruby asked.

"Uh huh." the shop owner replied.

The man finally made it to the roof of the building only to stop at a dead end with Ruby making her way behind him via bullets. "Persistent…"

As Ruby readied into a combat stance, a giant airborne vehicle appeared in front of roman. The vehicle let out ferocious winds and a blinding light."End of the line, Red."

He climbed onto the vehicle and threw a red dust crystal towards the girl. He then aimed at the dust crystal and shot it, causing an explosion. The man proceeded to celebrate his achievement. "WHOOOHOOHOOHOO!

Ruby couldn't dodge in time so her only option was raising her scythe and hoping for the best. What luck she had, however, because a tall blond figure was standing before her with his sword on guard. "I can only watch the show for so long. Mind if I butt in?"

Ruby smiled, and saw another person come into the fray. It was an older woman with blond hair, white complexion complete with glasses, a white button down shirt, black skirt, pantyhose, and high heels. She shot out an array of purple lasers towards the flying vehicle causing the vehicle to stagger. Cloud made things worse for the villain by using one of his uncharged limit breaks, blade beam. Cloud swiped his sword upwards and let out a giant crescent shaped beam that managed to cause a good dent. White coat was struggling to keep his footing while he made his way towards the cockpit where a woman in red was piloting."We got a Huntress! And a crazy psychopath with a butcher knife!"

White coat then took control while she made her way to combat the heroes of the night. While the villains were still preparing to strike back. The huntress made no hesitation to follow up by summoning clouds over the flying vehicle, and causing giant chunks of ice to rain upon the evildoers, and nearly decapitating white coat as he dodged the blue frozen spike at the last minute. The woman in red finally came into the action and shot out a red flame with the blond woman neutralizing it with a force field. The red woman wasn't done and raised her hands upwards, creating a giant pillar of fire. The Huntress flipped backwards to escape the burning fury. Then she gathered up the debris and formed a javelin like shape. She hurled it towards the bag guys with the woman desperately shooting fire to stop the attack. The debris separated and formed again to avoid the woman and nailed its target.

The huntress then waved her wand to make a final attack, only to have the woman create a red circle around her body and blasted all the pieces away. Ruby not knowing what else to do, transformed her scythe into a sniper of some kind and shot at the woman multiple times only to have her deflect them. Cloud in the background was charging his limit; fully charged he held his sword in front of him and a sphere of light was forming from the tip of the Buster sword. He then jumped up in the sky and waved his sword, and in seconds meteorites were falling from the sky towards the vehicle. Making direct hits and nearly destroying the vehicle.

White Coat couldn't believe what he just experienced. "HOW THE HELL DOES ONE RAIN MEATORITES!? We can't keep this up! I'm pulling out!"

He put the vehicle in full throttle and barely escaped the wrath of Cloud and his meteors. The girl and Huntress both looked towards cloud as he spinning his sword back onto his magnetic holster. Ruby jumped up in the air and had the biggest puppy eyes. The huntress was dumbfounded that someone on this planet could summon meteors out of nowhere.

"OH MY GOD THAT WAS AWESOME!" I've never seen people do the things you do! And you're not even using dust!? PLEASE! YOU HAVE TO TEACH ME! the girl squealed.

The girl then looked at the huntress. "And you….You're a Huntress...Can I have your autograph?


	4. Questions and Answers

Cloud and the girl were in a dark room with a lamp hovering over their heads. The Huntress was pacing violently as she was scolding the two heroes. "I hope you two realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly. You two have put yourselves and others in great danger."

Ruby replied with a straw man's argument. "They started it!"

Cloud face palmed at the comment the girl just made. "She's worse than Master Hand."

The Huntress was not amused. "If it were up to me, both of you would be sent home…..with a pat on the back.

"They sure are lenient around here," Cloud thought to himself. He admits that he's done some damage to that place. Barely five minutes in and he has already got himself into trouble. Ruby had an open smile thinking she was off the hook.

"And a slap on the wrist," as the Huntress whipped close to the girl and Cloud.

Ruby yelped like a little puppy who was hopelessly lost.

"But… there is someone here who would like to meet you two," Said the Huntress.

A man with silver hair came out from the door in a well-dressed black attire with a green shirt underneath. In his right hand was a plate full of cookies, and to his left a mug filled with coffee. "Ruby Rose….and Cloud Strife." He came closer towards their faces. Ruby had on a worried face and was bummed out he came to her first, thinking she'll get punishment first before the big guy with the giant sword. "You...have silver eyes," said the curious man.

Ruby didn't exactly know how to reply to something that random. "Um…"

He looked at Cloud and was surprised at his as well. "And you have a different set of blue eyes..."

Cloud crossed his arms and cocked his head. "Where is this guy getting at?"

The Huntress was holding a tablet of some sorts showing footage of Ruby's abilities and Cloud's. "So, where did you two learn to do this?"

"S-Signal Academy," said the nervous Ruby.

"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous ever designed?" The man said in a surprised tone.

"Well, one teacher in particular," said Ruby.

"I see…"

Cloud wasn't sure if this man would even know about this place, but what choice did he have? "Smash Academy."

The man gave Cloud a shocking look. His eyes grew big and he smiled. "Does the Smash Academy teach all their students to wield weapons that size?"

"Just me," said Cloud.

"How does one wield a weapon like that with such ease? I would have never believed that anyone could even lift it, let alone swing it. But from what I can see from footage, you're the real deal," the man's tone signaled that he was highly impressed.

The man placed the plate of cookies on the table. Ruby was slow and hesitant to reach out. She picked one up and quickly ate it in one bite. Then she continued to devour the rest like she had not eaten in days. Stopping at the last cookie she took a bite off of, she handed it to Cloud. Cloud smiled, and grabbed the cookie and plopped it in her mouth. You called first dibs when you bit into it."

Ruby blushed, and continued to finish the job he handed to her.

"I've only seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before. A dusty old crow," the man said with a low tone.

"Mmmm! Thash muh unkul!" said the poor mannered Ruby.

Ozpin gave the Ruby a look of confusion, and the rest followed suit. Everyone in the room beside Ruby could interpret food talk.

Cloud took out a bottle of milk Link had given him the night before out of his bag and gave it to the poor girl struggling to swallow the delicious sweets. She snatched the bottle and chugged the whole thing. She let out of gasp of air right afterwards. "Sorry, that's my Uncle Qrow! He's teacher at Signal! I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. And now I'm all like- Hooowaaah! Witchaaaa!

Ozpin gave a look of amusement. "So I've noticed. Cloud someone like yourself isn't exactly normal either. Most hunters/huntresses rely on dust to fight, and you seem to be using none."

Cloud tried to come up with an answer to supplement dust from his world without trying to sound too foreign. "At the Smash Academy, we typically rely on power within ourselves, me in particular, however, back at home used condensed energy similar to dust known as Materia.

"Can you elaborate?" The man asked.

"The powers I have are called limit breaks. They use the body's natural energy to enhance my abilities and unleash my powers."

"Like Semblance," the man added on.

Cloud was confused by what he meant by that, but he rolled along with it. "You can call it that. Materia, on the other hand, relies on Mother Nature to unleash her powers of the elements like thunder, fire, and ice. I don't use them often, though."

Cloud pulled out an ice Materia and cast ice onto the plate. Ozpin was amazed by everything he heard and just witnessed. "Master hand certainly knows how to pick them," he thought to himself. Cloud was unlike any other student he has taken in before. He looked back at Ruby to question her further. "And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?"

"Well...I want to be a Huntress."

The man was taken by Surprise. "You want to slay monsters?"

"Yeah! I only have two more years of training left at Signal! And then I'm going to apply to Beacon! You see, my Sister is starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress cause I want to help people. My parents always taught us to help others, so I thought, 'Hey, I might as well make a career out of it!' Heh, heh! I mean the police are alright, but Huntsman and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting, cool and really, gosh, you know!" Ruby said with much energy and speed.

Cloud shook his head and grinned. Just seeing Ruby doing the things she does was entertainment enough. She reminded him of when he was just starting out as a grunt for Shinra back at his place. Innocent, noble, and...cute. The Huntress gave a look of worry. She couldn't believe that a child like Ruby would want to become a Huntress.

The man just had a smile on his face. He really liked the potential he could bring out from these two. "Do you know who I am?"

"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the headmaster of Beacon," Ruby answered.

"He's the one!" Cloud shouted in his head. Cloud's eyes grew and Ozpin saw his reaction. Ozpin knew for sure after seeing his reaction that this was one of the people Master Hand sent.

"Hello," Ozpin said plainly

"Nice to meet you," Ruby said with a smile.  
"Likewise," Cloud added.

"You want to come to my school?"

Ruby had a determined look in her eye. "More than anything."

Ozpin looked at the Huntress for approval. "Well okay." He then looked at Cloud with the ex-SOLDIER staring back, knowing that Ozpin knew who he was. "And what about you Cloud?"

Ruby put her hands together and looked straight at Cloud with her puppy eyes. "Oh please, please, please Cloud you have to go! We can be partners!"

Really, what Ruby meant was that she wouldn't have to go to a school without knowing anyone. Plus it didn't hurt that he was very easy to look at. "Come on," she thought to herself. "I could possibly have someone cool to show off to my sister!"

Cloud stood up, and looked dead straight at Ozpin, and offered a handshake. Ozpin grabbed his hand firmly and shook. "I won't let you down."

Ozpin smiled. "By the way, Master Hand wanted me to give you a message."

"And the message is?" Cloud asked.

"Call him Daddy Sakurai."

Cloud shook his head in disbelief. "I'll…think about it."

Ruby had the biggest smile on her fast, not only was she going to her dream school, she just made a new friend. The next day Ruby and Cloud boared an Airship carrying new students to Beacon.

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!" Yang squeezed her little sister of what life she had left.

Ruby frowned. "Please stop…"

The blond had finally let go. "But I'm so proud of you!"

"Really, Sis, it was nothing."

"What do you mean? It was incredible! Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees," Yang said proudly.

"I don't want to be the 'bee's knees', okay? I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees," Ruby said with much remorse.

"What's with you? Aren't you excited?"

"Of course, I'm excited...I just…" Ruby let out sigh, "I got moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything."

Yang moved over to her sister and put her arms on her. "But you are special."

There was a broadcast that interrupted the precious sibling moment they were having. The news reporter was broadcasting Roman Torchwick and his attempt of robbery. The news then went on to say he continues to evade authorities. It then turned over to Lisa Lavender reporting on a Faunus protest gone wrong when members known as the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The broadcast was then interrupted by a hologram displaying the Huntress that helped Ruby and Cloud. "Hello, and welcome to Beacon!"

"Who's that?" Yang Asked.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh."

Glynda's projection continued on to make her announcement. "You are among the privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsman and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now, it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."  
The hologram then phased out.

Ruby walked towards a window like every other newcomer. The view was so spectacular that Ruby was able to see her old school from the airship. "Wow! Look you can see Signal from up here! I guess home isn't too far after all."

Yang put her hand on Ruby's shoulder to reassure her. "Beacon's our home now."

There was a young man to Yang's right was making the strangest of noises. He looked like he was about ready to pass out while puking his guts out. He then staggered along to find a different place to make his mess. "Well...I guess the view isn't for everyone."

"It was a nice moment while it lasted," said Ruby.

"I wonder who we're going to meet?" Yang asked.

"I just hope they're better than Vomit boy. Oh, Yang, gross, you have puke on your shoe!"

Yang went over to Ruby hoping for her to clean it off. "Gross, gross, gross…"

Ruby ran as fast as she could away from her sister, not knowing why her sister's immediate reaction would be to come over to her. "Get away get away! Get away from me!"

Ruby had her eyes too focused on Yang to really care what was in front of her when all of sudden she slammed onto a hard body and fell backwards. Yang stopped dead at her tracks and checked to see if her sister was okay. A hand was offered to Ruby, and when she looked up, she immediately recognized who it was. Purple uniform, spikey anti-gravity defying hair, and a giant sword. "CLOUD!"

Cloud pulled her up and dusted her off from the fall. "It's a good thing someone like you doesn't drive."

"Oh, ha-ha. Yup, you're Cloud alright," said Ruby cheerfully.

Yang took this opportunity to check out Ruby's new friend, and she liked what her eyes were seeing. Tall, nice hair, muscular and blue eyes. "This guy has it all," Yang thought. She had a devious smile with a devious brain coming into play. "Ruby, you never told me about your friend here."

Ruby got so excited. This was her opportunity to show off her new friend. "Oh, Yang! This is Cloud! He's the one who helped me fight off those goons last night. We both also got accepted at the same time!"

"Only when your sister decided to threaten me with those eyes of hers," Cloud added.

"Only because I thought it would be cool to go to the same school together!"Ruby retorted.

Yang crossed her arms and winked at Cloud. "Are you sure it wasn't your eyes that made Ruby get all puppy mode on you?"

Cloud raised an eyebrow, confused at the comment she just made. "Excuse me?"

Ruby blushed and immediately pulled Yang somewhere else to have a private conversation. "I'll be back Cloud! Just stay put for a minute!"

Cloud gave a nod, wondering what had happened between the two sisters.

Ruby dragged yang on the other side of the room so that they could talk in private. She was steaming and redder than the clothes she had on her back. Yang couldn't help but giggle and have fun with the whole situation. "Yang, what are you trying to do!?"

"I'm not doing anything baby sister. What are you trying to do with that boy?"

Ruby face flushed even harder. "I'm not trying anything! I'm simply trying to befriend him."

"OH okay, boyfriend him! I got you," said Yang deviously.

Ruby had about enough of her sister's antics, she was steaming and there was no way to cool off. "We're just friends!"

"If that's the case, then I'll take him for myself." She walked over to Cloud and gave Ruby a wink. Ruby pouted and let out a big sigh. "That's one way to help your sister start a new school."

Ruby pouted and let out a big sigh. "That's one way to help your sister start a new school."


	5. Welcome to Beacon

**Author's note: I apologize for not clearing this up. But Corrin is female, and Robin is male.**

"Wow", Cloud thought to himself. He finally arrived at Beacon academy. "This is where I'm going to work?" Beacon academy was like a giant castle. Instead of princess and princesses, however, it was hunters and huntresses fighting monsters. Cloud was only at the entrance on the way to Beacon and he was already overwhelmed. It was almost as big as Midgar, except without the pollution, the sky is blue, and there's grass. He was a little worried, still no sign of any of the other smashers. He was hoping that they would make their way here somehow. That was when Cloud heard several people call his name. "CLOUD! Over here buddy!"

Cloud squinted his eyes and looked ahead to see that it was everyone, safe and sound. The gang ran towards Cloud to welcome the him to Beacon.

"Thank the Goddess; we were worried you would end up captive somewhere," Marth said with a worried tone.

Cloud rolled his eyes at Marth's comment. "You guys have no faith in me.""We really don't. Especially after what Ozpin told us. Wrecking the place already and you're barely here for two days."

"We really don't. Especially after what Ozpin told us. Wrecking the place already and you're barely here for two days," Samus scoffed.

Cloud was shocked that they have already met with Ozpin. "Where did the portal take you guys!?"

"Ozpin's office. He knew what we were here for and now we're enrolled in the school as well," Said Shulk.

Cloud frowned, pissed off at the fact that they had an easy time getting here. Ike was actually quite jealous at the fact that Cloud already had some action.

Ike came over to put his hands on his shoulder. "Cheer up buttercup; at least we're all in one peace."

"I'm more salt than butter," Cloud said with a frown.

The entire gang laughed. They were all glad that they were reunited, and that Cloud was still the same even after the big fight last night. Cloud couldn't help but wonder how the gang would know he was going to be here. "So, how did you know I would be arriving at this time and location?"

Both teams all had their fingers pointed at one particular boy. Shulk had both his thumbs pointed at him with the biggest grin on his face. "Don't underestimate my visions, and the power of IPhone!"

Cloud had forgotten that Shulk used that during their fight back in the Smash tournament. His visions were the most annoying thing right next to Corrin's counter and Bayonetta's witch time. Cloud's body shook from the thought of having to go through that again.

"So now that we're here, what's the plan now?" Corrin asked.

While the team was deciding on what to do next, they were interrupted by a loud explosion from the west side of the campus.

"Um….I hope no one got their hands on one of my bombs..." Link said with a sly grin.

The crew then came to realize that there was an argument between two girls. One that looked like a fully loaded princess dressed in all white with high stilts, and Ruby? The princess was stomping and yelling, scaring the little girl in red. "Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!"

Ruby couldn't help but poke both her fingers towards one another, not knowing what else to do. "I'm really, really sorry!"

The apologies had no effect however, and the ice queen continued her verbal assault. "Ugh! You complete, dolt! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"

"Well, I…"

"This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice you know. We're here to fight monsters! So watch where you're going!" The princess interrupted.

Ruby had about enough of the spoiled brat. She can only take such blabber for so long before having to explode. "Hey, I said I was sorry, Princess!"

In the middle of the argument, a dark figure in the background approaches to butt in. She had a bow, black hair, white and black top with long black stockings.

"It's Heiress, actually. Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

The princess with her hands to the sides of her waist was mighty impressed with the girl's knowledge. "Finally, some recognition!"

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners," the girl added on.

The princess was at a loss for words. "What- How dare-! The nerve of-! Ugh!" The ice queen was slowly melting down into her puddle of defeat. She quickly gave up and snatched the dust bottle from the girl's hand that flew away during the explosion. She then went over to Ruby to finish her scolding. "I'm not done with you!"

"I think the lady in the red is done with you," Marth interrupted. Marth was done seeing the event transpire into a convoluted mess. Cloud gave Marth the nod to intervene while he made his way to comfort Ruby.

The princess had a face of anger and couldn't believe someone interrupted her again. "She needs to learn her place!"

"I think our young lady has all the scolding she needs. Allow me to make up for what she's done. "Marth brought out a handkerchief and used his signature blade dance to clean up the ice queen. Slowly winning her over, the ice queen gave Marth her handkerchief. The ice queen looked at Ruby with a cold stare, and walked off.

Ruby not wanting to create an enemy on her first day, decided to blurt out last words of kindness and sincerity. "I promise I'll make this up to you!"

The little girl in red sighed. What else can go wrong? It's only the first day for crying out loud. "I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day." Ruby then turned to her right to try and introduce herself to her first savior. "So what's-?" The girl in black just walked off as if she had no part in what just happened. Ruby was filled with sadness, dropped to her knees, and onto her back. "Welcome to Beacon…"

She noticed there was a shadowy figure hovering over her. Cloud reached out his hand once more to help the poor girl off the ground. "I don't think it's very clean down there."

Ruby immediately grabbed Cloud's hand with her mood instantly better. "Cloud! You have no idea how rough I'm having it right now. Everybody is either yelling at me or walking off without giving me their name… Am I unlikable?"

Cloud put his hands on her shoulders. His warmth letting Ruby know that he cared. "If that were the case, Marth wouldn't have helped you just now."

She looked over to the boy with blue hair and gave him a big smile. Marth giving her a hand gesture that it was no big deal. "Cloud, I'll gather up the group and meet you at the ceremony."

"Sounds good to me," Cloud replied.

Ruby was happy to know that someone was finally not ditching her so suddenly; Even more happy that it was Cloud of all people. Cloud dusted her off once more, and ruffled her hair. "You're not good at keeping yourself clean, are you?"

Ruby rolled her eyes at his comment. "I'll have you know I shampoo and conditioner. I also body wash thank you very much."

They both laughed with much joy. Cloud perception of Remnant was changing. This whole time he thought it was going to be a place of hell due to Master Hand's description and urgency to put him on this mission. But so far he was met a colorful cast of characters since he's been here; Even the evil white coat. Ruby couldn't help but feel warm when he was in her presence. It was nice to know that he's been there from the get go. Despite being kind of foreign, he has been a lot kinder than most; Even if he is a little smartass.

The two were approached by another boy with the same hair color as Cloud. "I swear, blond must be in style these days. First me, Shulk, and now this guy. "Hey guys, my names Jaune. I saw the whole thing. I hope you're alright."

"Ruby."  
"Cloud."

Ruby snickered a little. Seeing the boy instantly made her remember a tragic moment back in the airship. "Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"

The trio decided to explore the school just a little more before heading to the ceromony. "All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!" exclaimed Jaune. Cloud was sick to his stomach after hearing that. He knew all too well about being motion sick. Having to overcome it was one of the hardest things he's done back in Gaia. At least he didn't have it as bad as Yuffie.

"Look, I'm sorry Vomit-boy was the first thing that came to mind," said Ruby.

Juane was not amused. "Oh yeah, what if I called you Crater-face?"

"Hey, that explosion was an accident," Ruby said with annoyance.

Cloud made a small chuckle, trying to hold back from bursting out loud from the events prior. Ruby, pissed off at his reaction decide it was a good idea to punch him in the arm… with little effect.

"Well the name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it!"

"Do they?" asked Ruby and Cloud at the same time.

"They will. Well, I hope they will...I mean, my mom always says that...Never mind."

Cloud could help but shake his head at the poor fool, while Ruby attempted to make an awkward laugh trying to break the ice. "So I got this thing." She pulled out her Crescent rose, taking shape into its natural form and dug the ground.

The awkward boy proceeded to flinch. "Whoa! Is that a scythe?"

"It's also a customizable, high impact velocity sniper rifle."

"A wha-?"

Ruby held her weapon up and cocked it. It's also a gun."

Oh. That's cool!" said Jaune.

So what've you got?" Asked the curious red one.

The boy was embarrassed to show what he had to offer. "Oh-uh, I got this sword."

Ruby let out an"Oooooooooh!"

"That's the first ordinary weapon I've seen from this world. I guess it's not all crazy," Cloud thought to himself. "Though, it's kind of….underwhelming."

"Yeah, I've got a shield too!"

"So what do they do?" asked Ruby.

The shield popped into a sheath, with the helpless Juane trying his best to catch it back into his hands. "Well...the shield gets smaller...So… when I get tired of carrying it… I can just put it away.

"Yeah, he's no Link." Cloud thought.

"But wouldn't it weigh the same?" Asked Ruby.

Juane slumped down to realize that it was kind of useless. "Yeah it does."

"Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons. I guess I did go a little overboard designing it."

"Wait. You made that?" Jaune said in shock.

"Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons. Didn't you make yours?"

"It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war."

"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me! Well I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days," Ruby said.

Jaune smiled at the fact that someone actually appreciated the weapons he possessed."Yeah. The classics."

Jaune looked towards Cloud to see what kind of gear he had on. "Holy crap," Jaune couldn't believe what this guy was carrying. The sword he got on his back was basically as big as him, and he's a big guy. A sword that's 5'7 is a little overboard isn't it? "So...Cloud was it? Do you actually use that thing?"

Cloud was confused, wondering if he was asking a rhetorical question.

Cloud unsheathed his sword and unleashed a forward smash attack: three furious swipes with ease.  
Jaune had his mouth wide open, not believing that someone like Cloud existed. Ruby could never get used to seeing that. No longer being able to resist the urge she walked up to Cloud to see if she could swing it. "You got to let me try that!"

Cloud gave a smirk, knowing well what would happen if these two were to try and hold the Buster sword. He handed her the sword and she fell right onto the ground. Jaune tried to help pick it up, but even with both of them combined, the sword was barely lifting off the ground. Cloud then picked the sword back up and swung it back onto his magnetic holster. He dug into his bag of magical holding and took out his newly made Fusion sword. Ruby couldn't help but admire the beauty of its construction. Everything from the metal, the bolts, and hilt screamed professional and deadly. Cloud then split the sword into six parts, the sword consists of one main blade, the First Sword, one hollow blade that serves as the front edge, two identical (but asymmetrically opposite) blades that form the back, and two identical (also asymmetrically opposite) smaller blades that attach to the sides. "This might be a little easier for you guys to hold. The Fusion Sword allows me to fight in a variety of styles best suited for the situation."

Ruby was on fire, this was one of the sexiest weapons she's ever laid eyes on. "Cloud, where did you get this?"

"I made it," Cloud said plainly.

Ruby couldn't believe what she just heard, was he a weapon's junkie too? She looked at the swords, then back at him, and her faced flushed with red like a rose. Finally, someone that was like her; was she dreaming? Cloud then proceeded to unload all the weapons he's ever had from the Hard Edge all the way to the Ultima. Her heart was beating faster, she couldn't take it anymore. She decided that she wasn't going to make this easy for Yang. She lunged at Cloud giving him the biggest hug of his life while squealing for joy.

Try as he might, Cloud was struggling to get the girl off of him until he finally just gave up. "Easy there cowgirl, if you want, we can spar and maybe teach you how to use these, and Materia."

Ruby grinned. "That's not what I had in mind."


	6. A Big Slumber Party

Beacon on the inside was just as impressive as the outside. The interiors were neatly constructed for royalty. Beacon reminded Cloud a lot of Midgar: Big central building, surrounded by towns and cities. With the exception that the aesthetics were a lot more vibrant and less depressing. Also the people actually wanted to be here and weren't corporate slaves. Speaking of people, the crowd was overwhelming. Countless waves of people attending Beacon academy to slay monsters. Cloud couldn't help but wonder why Ozpin would still need random people from the outside world for help. The Mission objective was to learn everything Ozpin has for them, go out on missions, and protect the people as long as Ozpin would see fit. From what Cloud can see however, they looked like they got it all covered.

As Cloud, Ruby, and Jaune made it further into the entrance; Ruby's older sister made a sudden outburst for her. "Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!"

Ruby wasted no time in trying to ditch Jaune, relieved that she was finally being able to reunite with her sister. "Hey I gotta go! I'll see you after the ceremony!"

"Hey, wait! Great. Where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?"

Before Ruby would lose herself in the crowd, she went over to Cloud to say her goodbyes. The little girl was twiddling her thumbs, thinking that she might have scared our hero away. "We'll see each other again, right? I didn't scare you too much did I?"

Cloud smirked. "If you watch where you're going, you might find me. Try not to crash into anyone else."

"So it's a yes! I'll be sure to hit harder."  
"As long as it's not in the gut," Cloud thought. He took out his IPhone and used the find friends app to make it a little easier for him to surf the crowd. He went on over to proceed to regroup with his fellow Smashers, with Corrin jumping up and down, waving like she just had a shot of straight up espresso...make that two.

Shulk was still processing everything in Beacon, despite being here since the beginning of the mission. The boy had his mouth wide open, with a face that is yearning for discovery. "This place is huge! Way bigger than any of the colonies back in my home!"

"No kidding. To top it all off, they have an entire army of super kids," said Ike.

"Super kids that have a close range weapon that transforms into a gun of sorts. I thought Super Smash Bros was dangerous," Samus added on.

Link brought out his hero bow, with an arrow bomb attached to it. Link was determined to never use modern firearms as it would go against his tradition. Not once had Link used a gun in any of the Super Smash Bros tournaments. "Arrows and bombs aren't out of style yet."

Corrin transformed her hand into a dragon claw. "I think my dragon fang shot will suffice."

As the group was having their conversation. Ozpin had stepped onto the stage. He didn't exactly have the most excited look in the room. It was almost as if he wanted them to go away. "Ahem… I'll keep this brief. You have traveled here to today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Ozpin walked off as Glynda stepped in to give additional info for what is to come. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed!"

Corrin poked her fingers at one another, and had her head towards the ground. "Hey guys… I'm sorry if I'm a big energy waster."

Shulk put his arm around the dragon warrior, giving her a genuine smile to help bring her spirit back. "You're fine the way you are. I wouldn't want you any other way."

Corrin smiled, and gave him a hug.

Ike was feeling uneasy about the professor after that speech. The person that wanted them at their school wasn't exactly welcoming. "He was… kinda dark don't you think?"

Samus shrugged. "It's a combat school, what did you expect? These kids signed up to go out there and kill. The last thing they need is coddling. Although, he could have made it a little more welcoming."

"Well, what matters is that we're all here. As long as we got each other, the mission should be a breeze. "Marth proceeded to make his way to the ballroom, signaling his comrades to come forth. "Come now, before they run out of spots. Unless of course you guys want to sleep besides someone sweaty, stinky, and very touchy. "Marth looked right at Cloud with a devious smile. "Big burly men willing to share a bath."

Cloud frowned, knowing where Marth was getting at. Flashbacks of the honey bee inn came back to him. This was a moment in time where Cloud was trying to rescue a friend by attempting to be as womanly as possible. Let's just say it was quite the experience. "Never again…"

It was now evening, everyone had gathered up in the ballroom. Two girls in particular had already made themselves at home, despite the crowd. Ruby was writing in her journal while Yang plopped onto her sleeping bag. "It's like a big slumber party!"

"I don't think dad would approve of all the boys though," said Ruby.

"I know I do," Yang said seductively.

Yang made it her job to soak in the scenery as long as she could before Jaune walked in with a full on blue onesie. Covering up the shirtless men and giving her a flirtatious grin. Yang was turned off immediately. She then looked to see what her baby sister was doing. "What's that?"

"A letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon, and how things are going."

"Aww, that's so cuuuuuuute!" Yang said jokingly.

With a hard throw from Ruby, Yang had a face full assault from her pillow. "Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school It's weird not knowing anyone here."

"What about Jaune? He's nice! She said with much hesitation. "There you go! Plus one friend!" That's a 100 percent increase!"

"I'm pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend. Back to zero," said Ruby.

"There's no such thing as negative friends! You just made one friend and one enemy!" Yang said in a happy tone.

With a hard throw, this time Ruby, had thrown a dog pillow, hoping it would hurt more.

"Look, it's only been one day. Trust me, you've got friends all around you. You just haven't met them yet," Yang added.

Cloud and the gang had just arrived in the ballroom after a day of exploring some of what Beacon had to offer. Yang eyes widened with joy knowing that not only did Cloud arrive, but his friends as well. She licked her lips, trying to her best to contain herself.

"Ruby, remember when you said you had zero friends? Well Cloud makes that a plus two! And his friends, OMG especially the one with blue hair."

Ruby sprung up to see if Yang was telling the truth, what great luck because they were laying out their sleeping supplies around 15ft across from them. "Wait a minute, I didn't think you'd be into Marth." Ruby was pointing at the Hero king, in his black tank top and white shorts.

"Oh he's cute too. But the pretty boy type isn't for me. I'm talking about HIM!"

Yang had her fingers and eyes fixed on the radiant hero of dawn. Ike was wearing nothing but his black compression shorts. "HOT DAMN!" Ruby you have got to introduce me to your friends."

"But I only know Cloud.." said Ruby with a blush.

"Then it's time to make new friends! And catch back up with your new 'friend'."

Ruby frowned, not liking where her sister was taking this. "What's with the air quotes?"

"Ohh Clooouud…."

Ruby immediately shut her sister's mouth with her hands and looked around the room to try and find something else to distract Yang with. She saw on the corner of her eye that a girl was sitting by herself. She lit a candle and was reading some kind of book. She had on grey robe-like sleepwear and the familiar bow. "That girl…"

"You know her?" Yang asked.

"Not really. She saw what happened this morning, but left before I could say anything."

"Well, now's your chance!" Said Yang with confidence.

"Hey wait! What are you doing?"

Try as she might, Ruby couldn't pull herself out of her Sister grip. Where Ruby was much faster, Yang was much stronger. Yang dragged her sister effortlessly towards the girl with the bow.

"Helloooo! I believe you two may know each other!" Yang greeted.

"Aren't you the girl that exploded?" Asked the girl.

"uhh, yeah! My name's Ruby."

Ruby attempted to offer a handshake, but the girl didn't move an inch. "But you can just call me… crater… actually you can just call me Ruby."

"Okay," she said plainly.

The girl was not amused with the awkward small talk. She then went on to read her book as if they didn't exist.

"What are you doing?" Yang asked her hopeless sister.

"I don't know, help me."

"So… what's your name?" Yang asked.

"Blake"

"Well, Blake, I'm yang! Ruby's older sister! I like your bow! It goes great with your… pajamas."

"Right," the girl said plainly.

The duo were getting nowhere, and Blake looked like she about had enough of breaking the ice. Yang however, was still pressing on. "Nice night, don't you think?"

"Yes, It's lovely. Almost as lovely as this book…" replied the girl. They continued to stare with Blake giving them a blank face. "that I will continue to read…" Try as they might, their smiles were more creepy and awkward than friendly. "As soon as you leave."

"Yeah, this girl's a lost cause," Yang said.

"What's it about?" Ruby asked.

Blake was not expecting the little red one to be curious about books. "Huh?"

"Your book. Does it have a name?"

"It's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body."

Yang was a little creeped out. She knew the girl would be dark, but was not expecting anything like this. "Oh, yeah… that's real lovely…"

"I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters… they're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress."

Blake was amused by the girl's innocence. Thinking the girl was still too young and naive. "Why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"

I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right, and who protected people who couldn't protect themselves."

"That's very ambitious for a child. Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale," said Blake with a harsh tone. "Well, fortunately the world has people like us to make it so."

"Well, fortunately, the world has people like us to make it so."

The girls looked into the direction of the where the talking was coming from. It was the hero of Hyrule wearing his traditional Ordon garb while remaining topless. Yang was glad that he came to alleviate some of the tension and awkwardness, and bringing the good looks. Blake wasn't expected to be challenged out of random, she scanned the boy, and realized he wasn't an ordinary student. No, not an ordinary Remnant.

"The world won't exactly be like the books, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't strive for peace and prosperity."

"It's very noble and selfless. With all due respect however, I don't think we'll ever get rid of all that is evil," said Blake.

Link smiled and put his hands to the side, standing proud and tall. "Then we'll just have to keep fighting back. The dark can't exist without the light."

Blake was surprised by the comment he made. He wasn't sure if he was wise and brave, or just a blind optimistic fool. She couldn't help but be swooned by his personality however.

"Even if it's just me saving the world, at least that makes one person trying to make a difference. Whether it's big or small. Though I would hope you would tag along to keep me company," Link added.

Blake blushed, and gave a small smile. "My names Blake."

"Link. Nice to meet you!"

The Hylian then looked to the girls giving them a thumbs up. Yang gave Ruby a big hug.

"Ohhh, we just made two more friends! I'm so proud of you!"

"Cut it out!" Ruby Yelled.

Yang had picked up Ruby off her feet, holding her like a little baby. The annoyed Ruby decided to pick a fight with her older sister in an attempt to escape. Dust clouds had surrounded the sisters, with each one struggling to come out on top. There was a person that was itching for action, and couldn't help but make his way on over.

"Mind if I join in?"

Ruby and Yang stopped their bickering only to see a tall blue haired figure with his arms crossed. Yang couldn't believe that he would come to them of all people. Cloud was nice, but his one had what she was screaming for. A brawn, guerrilla, and rough kind of guy. Ruby noticed her sister daydreaming and decided to return the favor for what her sister tried earlier. "Oh yeah! Yang loves to tussle. The more the merrier! Actually, why don't you guys have at it. One on one, mane a mano."

Yang gave her the "I'll kill you," look. She wasn't about to let Ruby ruin this for her. Little sister or not. Ike held his arm up in a curved position where two people grab each other's hand. It wasn't a simple handshake however; Ike wanted a test of strength between him and Yang. "Oh you're so on!" Yang declared.

Yang was excited, she was hoping Ike wasn't just looking the part. The Smash gang came to see what was all the commotion. Samus made a facepalm. "First Cloud and now you? Can you guys go five minutes without starting something?"

"Oh relax. It's just a friendly competition. I'm actually quite curious to see if the great Greil Mercenary can take down this fiery beast," said Robin.

"I heard that!" Yang yelled.

Shulk took the opportunity to take turn this event into a friendly wager. Shulk had his trusty companion Corrin going around tallying votes. Ike looked at the tallies to see that the odds were against him. "Hey! What gives!?" Ike questioned.

Cloud went in to give his vote, and put a tally under Yang's name. Ike couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Not you too Cloud!"

Cloud shrugged. "Sorry big guy, gotta go with the winning team."

"YAY! Now you'll win for sure sis!" Said Ruby jumping in the air.

Ike was doing his best to hold back the tears. He couldn't believe one of his teammates had the nerve of going against him. At least Link and Marth were the referees of the match. Link put his arms between the two competitors."Arm wrestlers! Ready your positions!"

"May the best win!" Yelled Marth.

Ike and Yang stared into each other's eyes, both trying their best to intimidate the other. Yang was fired up, and quite turned on.

"Begin!" Link called out.

They both pushed as hard as they could, but neither was backing down. "Holy crap, this guy is strong!", Yang thought. This was the first time a man was actually able to keep up with her. Ike to his surprise could not believe that a girl of her stature was actually on par with him. The only other girl to go toe to toe with Ike in arm wrestling was Samus herself.

"Come on big guy. You wouldn't want to disappoint daddy Sakurai would you?" Cloud said mockingly.

Ruby snickered.

Ike had a vein pop out from his head. "Oh, he just went there." Ike erupted blue flames from his entire body. Yang seeing that he was getting serious, unleashed her yellow semblance. Both poured so much energy that the room was shaking. Neither one was letting up. The competition was going on strong until a certain Ice Queen came into the fray. "What in the world is going on over here!? Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep!?

"Oh not you again!" Both Yang and Weiss yelled.

Blake was watching from the sidelines. Knowing she wasn't going to be able to read from all the commotion. She decided that it was lights out, and blew the candles. The room suddenly dark, and quiet.


	7. Initiation

"Finally some action!" Ike said sheathing his sword. Today was the day they've all been waiting for. Today was the day that all students of Beacon go through an initiation. The initiation process evaluated a student's strengths and weaknesses by putting them right into the enemy territory. While some may dread the thought of having to fight actual monsters, the Smash team was itching to see what they were up against. They were up against a new world, with new enemies. Just the thought of that alone was exciting enough.

"I thought you got plenty of Action from that girl. I'm disappointed in you Ike," said the Cold Bounty Hunter.

Ike glared at the blonde bounty hunter. "Hey! I didn't lose! We just had a...stalemate..."

Samus rolled her eyes "Call it want you want big boy, but we all know that you need to start working out more."

Ike slumped with a frown knowing well he had no comeback to retaliate with. The Smash team were in a locker room where all students of Beacon store their weapons here for safe keeping. Everyone gathered around Cloud's locker for a quick debrief. "Alright everyone, when we get out there, make sure to have your IPhone turned on. We will regroup with the teammates assigned to us by Sakurai."

"Um, that's Daddy Sakurai, "Corrin said with a smile.

Cloud made a face of anger. "Hell no! Not after the 1.15 patch. He nerfed my best tools for the next tournament! I'm not even Op...and my recovery can say a lot for that. Now my finishing touch is a lazy touch."

Corrin let out her pouty face and stomped her feet. "Speak for yourself! I just got invited to fight only to be nerfed right away!"

While they were in the middle of their bickering, Samus aimed her stun gun at both warriors and pulled the trigger. She paralyzed them long enough to give Corrin a slap and a punch to Cloud's gut. Tears were running down her face. Her fist clenched from holding all the restraint she had to throw another punch. Cloud and Corrin looked in shock. Why would she hit them all of sudden? "You guys want to talk about nerfs!? First, they said I was too weak in brawl...and now…." Cloud and Corrin walked over to Samus for a big group hug. Knowing too well what has happened to Samus for the past year since Smash 4 begin. "They won't stop bitching about the heels.."

"Stay strong Samus!" said Cloud holding back the tears.

"We know this won't be the end of it," said Corrin.

Ike came over to put his hands on Samus' shoulder. Ike was thinking of ways to make the gang feel better. But there wasn't much he could say since he's been getting buffs from the beginning. Marth was guilty of getting over 40 buffs. Link got a considerable amount and so did Shulk and Robin. "Well he reduced the rang on my down tilt attack."

 ***Record scratch***

 ***Crickets***

The three nerfs look dead at Ike as if their eyes were piercing into his soul. Ike made a loud gulp, trying to come up with another excuse. It was a lost cause however, there was nothing the mercenary could do to make anything up. Marth and Link came to comfort the warrior while at the same time shaking their heads in disbelief. Robin put his hood over his head just in case the worst was to happen. "Ike, not another word," said Robin.

Cloud wiped Samus' tears and turned his attention to the rest of the team. "Alright guys, back on subject. Shulk will use his visions to make sure that no one gets killed and that everything goes according to plan."

Ike put his sword over his shoulder and gave a cocky smirk. "Me? Defeated? Never!"

Cloud smirked. "Last time I checked Ike, I bet on the right person last night."

Ike put his sword in front him, with his energy pushing the air with ferocious force around his body. "For the last time, it was a stalemate!"

Robin made a doodle in his journal showing Yang slamming Ike's arm on a table, breaking it into pieces along with a broken arm. "I was quite surprised with the outcome last night. Truly she is a force to be reckoned with."

Ike gave up and sheathed his sword. He crossed his arms and remained silent for the rest of the event. Cloud had dismissed the group, with everyone getting ready to head out before having their attention caught by a lovestruck blond and a very cold girl with an even colder soul. "So, been hearin' rumors about teams! I was thinking you and me would make a good one. What do you say?"

Jaune was interrupted by another girl who wore her red hair in a waist-length ponytail, curled slightly into a loose ringlet and had vivid green eyes. She wore light green eyeshadow. She was tall and quite muscular. If she had a comparison it would be Samus herself. "Actually, I think the teams are comprised of 4 students each, so-"

"You don't say. Well, hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team," Jaune interrupted.

Weiss was not able to take his nonsense; separated him from the red head. "Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you are talking to?"

"Not in the slightest, Snow Angel," said the clueless one.

"This is Pyrrha."

"Hello again!" said Pyrrha with much cheerfulness.

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum."

"Never heard of it," Jaune said plainly.

"Ah, She's won the Mistral Regional Tournament 4 years in a row… A new record!"

"The what?" Jaune asked.

Weiss was furious and annoyed. She swung her arms and looked over to the Smash team. She was hoping to find well-informed individuals that had common knowledge of her world. However luck was not on their side, neither was Weiss'. "Do any of you people know who she is?"

"I think I saw her on a cereal box when I was fighting those goons," said Cloud scratching his head.

"I don't eat Cereal," Link said plainely.

Ike was silent.

"I'm quite lost," Marth stated.

"I'm not feeling it," Shulk replied.

"No," said the Bounty Hunter.

"If memory serves me right, no," said Robin.

"Not a clue," Corrin added.

Weiss stomped her foot and let out a big sigh. She felt like she was in a room full of idiots who didn't know their place. How do they not know who the great Pyrrha Nikos is she must have thought. She decided to make one last attempt to try and job some memory in the room. "She's on the front of every Pete's Marshmellow Flakes box!"

Jaune gasp, "That's you? They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

"Hmmm….that cereal didn't taste very good", Cloud thought.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you," Pyrrah stated.

"Well that explains everything", Cloud thought with him rubbing his stomach.

"So after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?" Weiss retorted.

"I guess not… Sorry," said Jaune with a sad tone.

Jaune was embarrassed. He put his head down and made a sad shrug. Pyrrha, however, put her hands on the boy's shoulder, giving him words of optimism. Making him all giddy like a little school girl finding out her crush liked her. "Actually Jaune, I think you'd make a great leader."

"D'oh, stop it!"

"Seriously, please stop it. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!" said Weiss harshly.

"Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick. Now I'm not supposed to do this but, maybe I could pull some strings. Find a place for you. What do you say?"

"Alright, that's a bit too close! Pyrrha, a little help please?"

Pyrrha grabbed her weapon, and threw it at Jaune, with the intent to have him stuck for a good minute, and possibly ruining his favorite hoodie. "I'm sorry!"

As all this was going on, there was a sudden announcement coming from the intercom. It was Glynda Goodwitch, giving first warning to the students to prepare for what is to come. "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation?" Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

Weiss walked off without and remorse, leaving the boy hanging on the wall. Pyrrha followed suit, except with a heart kind enough to free the boy. "It was nice meeting you!"

Jaune sighed, "Likewise."

Yang and Ruby went over to help poor Jaune get off the ground with the Smash gang following. Jaune was devastated. He has tried everything he can to swoon in the ladies with his overconfidence. He couldn't help but wonder why his charms weren't working. Was he using the right words, not enough cologne, or is it the scraggly blond hair? These thoughts were constantly running through his mind and they weren't going to leave anytime soon.

"Havin' some trouble there, Ladykiller?" asked Yang.

"I don't understand. My dad said all women look for is confidence. Where did I go wrong."

"Snow Angel" probably wasn't the best start," said Yang.

"I don't think our young miss appreciates any sort of pickup lines. Much less fall for them," said Marth.

Jaune then looked over to Cloud, hoping to find some answers. "Cloud, got any advice?"

Cloud was not expected to be put on the spotlight yet again. The team was especially curious, seeing as Cloud has been getting friendly with the Red One. They didn't think of Cloud being a Knight in shining armour, much less a lady killer. Cloud rushed through every file he had in his head. In all his life, women sort of just clung onto him. Whether he liked them or not. He then began having flashbacks of infiltrating the Don Corneo Mansion. "For you personally, I'd try to think like a girl, and see what goes on in the mind of one."

Jaune tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean? Like being in their shoes?"

Cloud had his hands to the side and stood proud and tall. "Precisely, and there is no method easier than to put on a wig, a satin dress, and some good lingerie."

The whole room filled with uncontrollable laughter. Cloud couldn't believe what he just said. He was hoping they didn't catch on to anything weird. The only person he ever told was Marth and even then he was uneasy of the Hero King's mouth spreading. Yang grabbed Cloud's arm while being unable to control her laughing. "Okay, this guy has jokes! I think I like you Cloud!"

Ruby burned with fire in her body. Imaginary daggers pointed right at her sister. She proceeded to carry Jaune out of the locker room with much haste. "Come on, Jaune. Let's go."

The students were on top of Beacon cliff. Beyond the horizon were miles of endless trees and tall mountains. While Beacon had the atmosphere of being the center of everything, beyond the buildings, cities, and towns was the middle of nowhere. The students were lined up in front of Ozpin and Glynda. The Smash team finally getting a glimpse of what Remnant looked like beyond the walls of civilization. "For years you have trained to become warriors. And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… Today," said Glynda with a stern voice.

"What?" As Ruby made a small whimper at the thought of having randomized teammates.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well," said Ozpin.

More scared noises came out of Ruby. Her stomach was sick, feeling like it had been punching itself. Her body was punishing Ruby for not making more friends sooner. Or at least, get to know them better.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next 4 years," Ozpin added.

Ruby yelled a loud "WHAT!"

Shulk put up his fist. "All according to plan."

"That made things a hell of a lot easier," Cloud thought.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die," Ozpin said plainly.

Jaune was trying to cover up his fear with laughter. The team was in shock with how school's in Remnant ran their initiations.

Samus pulled her hair back, staring off into the horizon. "Yup, a lot more dangerous than Smash."

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose 1, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?

Jaune raised his hand. "Yeah, um sir-"

"Good! Now, take your positions."

They were standing on gray platforms made to launch every single one of them with full force straight into the forest. Cloud and Shulk had read in advance about launching and landing. From what the smashers could gather, each and every student must come up with their own method of landing, parachute or not. Weiss was the first to get launched.

"So, this landing strategy thing, uh, w-what is it? You're like, dropping us off or something?" Asked Jaune.

"No. You will be falling."

"Oh, I see. So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?" Jaune asked again.

"No, You will be using your own landing strategy," Ozpin answered.

"Uhhuh...Yeah."

After Ruby and Yang had been launched, Shulk was next. The boy pulled out his Monado and braced himself for the sky. "Now it's Shulk time! Shulk launched, and it was Samus' turn.

"Now you guys can get crazy. Don't get killed." Samus launched with grace and did her signature kickflip motion. The same one she would used in the last tournament.

"I'll be sure to research as much as I can from these big, bad, scary monsters," said Robin.

"Let's fly!" Robin launched with Corrin launching immediately right after.

"Let's, Mosey!" Yelled Cloud.

Link let out his signature battle cry. "Hyaaaaaa!"

Ike unsheathed his sword. "Prepare yourselves."

Marth had just finished praying to the Goddess. "Everyone, please watch yourselves.."

They all launched with Jaune following right behind, screaming for his life.


	8. The Emerald Forest

All participants of the initiation were slicing through the air. Each soaring over the horizon, preparing to execute their landing strategy. Cloud took out his Earth Materia and insert it in his Bust Sword. Shulk used the Monado to switch into shield mode. Ike charged his Eruption, with blue flames surrounding him and the tip of the sword. Samus' mechanical backpack had transformed into her exoskeleton power suit. Corrin had formed her wings, gliding through the air and covering as much ground as possible.

Link latched onto a tree with his Claw Shot, and swung around performing a flip, and landing with a loud thud. Marth had performed a Dolphin Slash at a tree right before landing the ground to soften the impact. As Robin began to get closer to the ground, he used his magic to slowly descend towards the ground with ease. Samus put her suit in morph ball mode with extra shielding and grazed the air like a meteorite. Her landing had caused a huge shockwave, destroying the environment around her. Shulk did a similar stunt, except raising his bubble shield while the Monado added more duration to the shield. Crashing through every tree that Shulk took advantage of to make an easier landing. Ike unleashed his eruption creating a huge crater that softened his landing. To him, the Eruption made it felt like he fell onto mud with pillows. Finally, Cloud cast Quake to cause the ground to change shape to his liking. He made a sand pit soft enough that landing headfirst wouldn't even knock him out.

Cloud had made the landing and started running towards the goal, or at least where he thought it was. He took out his IPhone and called Shulk. The phone was ringing for a while, he was worried that Shulk might have lost it while soaring or during the landing. Much to his luck, Shulk picked up. "Shulk, do your visions show where we need to go?"

"Glad you asked because I know exactly what the location looks like and how to get there from where everyone is. I'm going to mark the location on everyone's GPS. The only hard part is making it there in one piece," said Shulk.

"Roger that, good work Shulk." His IPhone made an alert noise signaling Cloud of the location. "North of where I am. Time to book it."

Cloud Sprinted as fast as he could, running so fast that the trees were beginning to blur. He heard howls and gunfire. If it was one of his teammates, he had to make haste just to be sure they were alright and so they could complete the initiation faster. He followed the smell of smoke and immediately thought of Ike. "Knowing him, he probably got surrounded and over did it. He's probably still boiling with the fact he lost to a girl." He saw two people in the far distance, one white, and the other red. They were surrounded by black creatures with some kind of red markings. Cloud jumped as far as he could into the fray right in front of the pair.

Alas, it was Ruby and Weiss. Surrounding them were the creatures of Grimm. Cloud unsheathed his sword, ready to guard the girls with his life. "Okay, who started the fire?"

Ruby immediately pointed towards Weiss.

"Don't you guys know that this hurts Smokey the bear!? Remember guys, only you can put out wildfires!" Cloud shouted.

"Ruby attacked out of turn!" Weiss retorted.

Cloud rolled his eyes, "This isn't a turn based JRPG Weiss. It's killed or be killed in the heat of the moment."

Cloud turned his head towards the girls, signaling them to run. Ruby let out a frown, hesitant on leaving the ex-SOLDIER alone with these beasts. "Cloud, I can help you fight! I haven't shown you the full awesomeness of Crescent Rose!"

Cloud gave her one last smile before their departure. "Ruby, when we make it out of this, you can show me everything you ever wanted to. Okay? I promise."

Weiss grabbed Ruby and made a dash for it. "Come on! Let's go!"

"Remember, you promised!" Ruby yelled.

The two faded off into the distance, with Cloud readied into his fighting stance. Three bear-like Grimm were in front of Cloud, ready to attack at any moment. "Bring it on."

Both of the opposition dashed towards each other with full speed. Cloud lunged into the air and performed Braver, a huge forward air down swipe across all three Grimm, effortlessly cutting them in half. Three more came charging from behind with Cloud turning a full 180 degrees. He then proceeded to perform another Braver, followed up with an upward swipe from the ground to the second Grimm. The third Grimm came in with an uppercut, but Cloud immediately sidestepped. While the Grimm was still in the air, Cloud jumped up and swung his sword with a hard left. Three more Grimm evaporated into thin air.

Cloud then rested his sword to the side and leaned against it; effectively taunting the beast around him. "You guys are making this too easy."

In the midst of all the chaos, a lad in green had come to join the fray in style. Cloud looked up into the sky to see that it was Link, shooting out skyward strikes at the enemies. Upon making the impact, Link took out his bow and went on a shooting frenzy. What aim Link had! He was making headshots left and right. The arrows were going right through the skulls of the Grimm. To add in an extra flare, Link performed a spin attack with bombs flying out of him. Each exploding with enough force to make the surrounding area of Grimm extinct.

Cloud went on over to Link, shaking his hand with a sad expression on his face. Something the matter Cloud?" Asked Link.

Cloud shrugged. "Not you too Link. It's just that nobody cares about Smokey the Bear."

Link cocked his head in confusion. "Cloud, he's just a hippie mascot."

Cloud shook his head and continued to walk towards the goal, with Link following suit. "Let's just get this over with."

Shulk had another vision, this time with a man garbed in green with a magenta streak in his black hair. He was being attacked by a giant snake, with only him to defend himself. Shulk had his priorities, but his heart was too good to have our young Monado boy to just do nothing to help this person. Shulk arrived at the destination with the man in green in Shulk's line of site. He was standing in an empty round field surrounded by trees, with the sun shining through. "If I remember correctly, that's Lie Ren."

A black giant snaked had appeared behind Ren, who seemed to appear oblivious to the fact that he was about to become its dinner. Wasting no time, Shulk ran towards Ren and called out to the boy. "The enemy is right behind you!"

Ren was not phased. It was as if he already knew what was coming. The snake surrounded the boy with its body, then proceeded to come in for the kill. Shulk waved his Monado with the symbol for SPEED. An aura poured from the Monado and engulfed Shulk and Ren with the power to keep up with Sonic at the Smash tournament. Ren performed a series of backflips to get out of harm's way. Shulk jumped in front of Ren knowing what would happen and slashed the beast, causing it to flinch back.

The beast then proceeded to surround them hoping to close them in. Shulk changed his Monado art to JUMP, and Ren leaped out to shoot his automatic pistols. Ren then gave the snake a devastating kick. Shulk charged in to give a hard right slash, collapsing the snake. Ren then lunged to give one final blow and stabbed with the blades on his StormFlower. Shulk gained another vision, this time with a white snake coming into the fray to aid the current snake.

"It's not over yet! Let's not lose our heads," said Shulk.

Shulk changed his Monado arts back to SPEED and waved his sword once more. Ren took advantage of this by sliding onto the back of the snakes, spraying as many bullets as possible. The snake caught Ren off guard, however, and slammed him into the ground. Then the snake proceeded to go in for the meal. Just when things looked bleak, Ren had his aura ready and put up a force field of some kind to protect him. He ripped off the fangs of the black snake and stabbed it right in the eye. Ren then slammed his palm onto the snake's head and caused it to explode. Shulk then went on to finish the job and performed an Air Slash. The first slash causing the snake to flinch, and the second cutting off its head clean.

Shulk put his Monado back on his back, with Ren dusting off his clothes from battle. Ren gave Shulk a smile with the young blonde returning with a thumbs up.

"We make a great team don't you think!?" Said Shulk with the biggest grin on his face.

Ren: "Yeah, and we did it without disappointing Smokey the Bear," said Ren.

A young girl with orange hair and another with silver hair plopped right out from a tree branch. Dangling upside down while attempting to make the sound of a sloth. "Qrrraaww! Qrrraaww!"

Ren chuckled. "Heh. I still don't think that's what a sloth sounds like."

Nora, after hearing Ren's comment decided that it was a good idea to lighten the mood by poking his nose and making a "Boop" noise. The two came down, with Corrin going over to poke Shulk's nose as well.

"Wait, what's with the Sloth Noise?" Asked Shulk.

"It's a secret call for her teammate. That way they can communicate without the others knowing what they're doing," Corrin replied.

Shulk scratched his head. "Um, I think we should come up with a better one than a sloth since we don't even know what those sound like."

"Well, we can do a dog. They're pretty easy to imitate," Said Corrin.

Shulk gave it a thought and threw it out shortly. "Dog goes woof...nah, too easy."

"What about a cat? They're soft and quiet."

"Cat goes meow...no, still too easy."

"A bird?"

"There're too many birds."

"Oooh! A mouse goes squeak!"

"No normal mouse squeaks the way we humans think they squeak."

"Moo?"

"Why would a cow be in the middle of a forest?"

"We can croak like a frog or toot like an elephant!"

"Too many frogs, and seriously? Toot!? What elephant makes that noise!?"

"Well the duck says quack, and fish go blub, and the seal goes ow ow ow."

"I hate ducks, there is no water, and SEALS don't reside here in the forest!"

Corrin thought long and hard while Shulk rubbed his head to rid of his headaches. She clenched her fist and hit the palm of her hand with a lightbulb sparking out. "Well, there is a sound that no one knows…"

"Wait, what does the fox say?" Nora Blurted.

Ike, Marth, Samus, and Robin had already made it to the temple. They were only second to Yang and Blake. The relics that Ozpin used this year for initiation were chess pieces. But for the Smash team, he made sure to go the extra mile in having them notice special pieces just for them. The team had walked onto the temple to find that there were eight identical pieces. The difference, however, were that four had M written on it, and the other four a U. The gang also noticed that the pieces looked just like the Smash symbol in front of the Smash Academy.

"Well, what do you know? He gave us special treatment," said Ike.

"It was kind of him to go to extra lengths to bring us together," Marth added.

Robin folded his arms and smirked. "Master hand must have pulled some strings no doubt."

Samus gave a sigh of relief. "Saves us the trouble."

Ike and Marth went to go grab the M Smash pieces. Robin and Samus grabbed the ones with U on it.

Samus couldn't help but feel uneasy. "This was a little too easy. I'm shocked the rest haven't got here yet."

Suddenly, a scream so loud that it was probably heard throughout the entire forest. "Some girl's in trouble!" Yang yelled.

"Nope, that's just Shulk," Samus replied plainly.

The gang then turned their attention to the sky, with an actual girl in red falling down screaming for dear life. "HEADS UP!"


	9. CLIM and SSRC

A falling Ruby was heading towards the ground, awaiting her fate to become a splattered mess. Fortunately she had Jaune who for some reason, flew from the other side of the map and crashed onto Ruby. They both had their impact soften by the trees. Soft as it may be, our young Ruby was seeing stars. "What was that?"

Above her was the boy who saved her life from becoming a splattered mess. "Ahem. Hey Ruby."

The rest of the gang looked in shocked. Not knowing how to process everything that was going on at the moment. "Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Asked Blake.

Yang tried to say something until something else distracted them again. Suddenly trees were falling, and loud Grimm growling was being made. Much to their surprise, it was Nora, Ren, Shulk, and Corrin riding on the back of an Ursa.

"Yeehaw!" Nora yelled.

"WHooohoooo!" Corrin shouting next to her.

The beast thinking that it had enough, decided that it was long overdue for a nap. A permanent nap. "Aww. It's broken. Ewwww," said the sad Nora.

Ren got off the beast, huffing and puffing. "You guys! Please...let's not do that again."

"I'm with you on that one…" Shulk added.

Shulk and Ren might as well have been talking to thin air because the female duo had already proceeded to collect their relics. Nora getting a white rook chess piece and Corrin getting the Smash piece with the U on it. Nora and Corrin grabbed each other's hands and danced around the altar. "We're queens of the castle! We're queens of the castle!"

"NORA!" Ren yelled.

"CORRIN!" Shulk yelled immediately after.

Corrin let go of Nora's hands and stuck her tongue out. "Aw, guys have patience."

"We're coming!" Nora shouted while running back to Ren.

The gang had their mouth wide open, still processing the second event to have transpired.

Blake tried asking again. "Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?"

Yang tried to answer again, but alas, another distraction. Trees were falling yet again with another howling Grimm. This time, it was Cloud, Link, and Pyrrha all running for dear life. Each of them dodging and rolling in the nick of time, with Pyrrha calling out for her teammate. "Jaune!"

"Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted back.

Ruby jumped off the tree branch to reunite with her sister.

Jaune whimpered as his only buddy left his side. "Ruby!"

Yang, still processing what was going on, had just now realized it was her little sister. "Ruby?"

"Yang!" Ruby replies.

"Nora!" She says as she tragically interrupts the sisterly love moment.

The Death Stalker was still chasing after their classmates, who were hoping to not wait at death's door.

"Did they just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on their tail?" Blake asked once more.

Yang about had enough of the antics and exploded with anger. She couldn't process all the random events that were happening one after another. This had to end now. "Grrrrr! I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?

"Well my fiery beast, unfortunately for you there is yet another crazy thing about to happen," Ike said as he pointed at the sky.

They all focused towards where he was pointing and saw Weiss hanging onto a giant bird at the tip of the claw. The girl hanging on to the last bit of her strength was scared out of her mind. She could only wonder how she got into this mess to begin with. "How could you leave me?!"

"I said jump..." Ruby said plainly.

"She's gonna fall." Blake added.

"She'll be fine."  
Ren gave Ruby a reality check. "She's falling."

Jaune saw this as an opportunity to score some brownie points. The brave one leaped into the air catching Weiss in the nick of time. "Just dropping in?"

However, it wasn't a fairy tail waiting to come true. Gravity still came into play and the duo fell fast. Marth and Robin came to the rescue with Robin saving Jaune and Marth swooping Weiss in his arms. "Are you alright my lady?"

Weiss was blushing hard. Her heart was beating faster by the second. She gathered all the self-control she had to utter two words. "My hero…"

Robin slowly descended Jaune back to the ground. Only to have the young man sigh in regret. "My dignity."

Cloud, Link, and Pyrrha were still being chased by the DeathStalker in the background when finally, one giant swing threw them right in front of the gang. Samus had one final facepalm before heading out for battle. "Just when I thought things were going smoothly."

"Great! The gang's all here! Now we can die together," Yang said sarcastically.

Ruby had her gaze aimed right the Death Stalker. "Not if I can help it!"

"Ruby, wait!" Yang shouted.

Ruby charged in head on full of confidence. She pulled the trigger and recoiled herself towards the scorpion. The Death Stalker however, deflected Ruby with its near-impenetrable armor. "D-do-don't worry! Totally fine!"

Ruby turned around with less confidence. She gave the monster one shot before juking out and putting away her weapon. Yang charged for Ruby, hoping to keep her out of harm's way. Try as she might, Ruby couldn't outrun the second monster on her tail. The giant bird shot a storm of feathers, trapping the girl's cape and pinning her to the ground. Yang was also stopped by the oncoming barrage of feathers. "Ruby, get out of there!"

"I'm trying!" Ruby cried out.

The Deathstalker came closer and lunged its tail for the death blow. Ruby saw her life flashed before her eyes.

"RUBY!" Yang cried out in desperation.

Weiss and Cloud darted to the Rescue, with Cloud shielding Ruby and Weiss freezing the monster.

" You are so childish!" Said Weiss mockingly.

Ruby opened her eyes to see that Cloud was facing his body towards her with his Buster sword behind his back, and Weiss standing in front of the monster. "Cloud...Weiss…?"

"And dim-witted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style. And I suppose I can be a bit... difficult... but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be... nicer."

"I'm not trying to show off. I want you to know I can do this."

"You're fine."

Weiss then walked back to regroup with the gang. Ruby let out a sigh of relief, then closed her eyes with her hands clasps together as she made a whisper. "Normal knees…" She then gets up and hugs Cloud. "Don't you ever get annoyed with coming to my rescue?"

"No, but I do get annoyed when people like you give everyone an unnecessary heart attack," Cloud said harshly.

"Why do you care so much? I mean, yeah we've known each other for a few days, I'm not someone you're exactly close with."  
"We're still friends aren't we? And the last thing I need is to lose another one."

"Another one?"

"Far too many."

The two stared at each other for a moment. Ruby looked into his eyes and saw a dark history behind it. She couldn't help be captivated by his heroism. But underneath the heroism was a man broken multiple times throughout his entire life. The hardships he had to endure to have him mature at a much faster rate than the rest.

Ruby put her hand on the side of his face. "Hey, remember when you told me I could tell you everything I ever wanted?"

"I meant it."

"In return, I want you to tell me everything. Within your boundaries."

"I'll warn you now, those are going to be small boundaries."  
Ruby smiled. "It's a start."

The moment didn't last much longer. The two looked up at the sky and saw the giant Nevermore flying overhead and roaring at the top of its lungs. The two went on over to regroup with the others. "Guys? That thing's circling back! What are we gonna do?" Jaune whimpered.

"Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us," Weiss stated.

The gang all looked towards the artifacts. "She's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the Cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things," Ruby added.

Jaune had a weight lifted off his shoulder a little. "Run and live, that's an idea I can get behind!"

Ruby went over to pick up a white knight, the same one Blake and Yang picked up. Jaune picked up a white rook, the same Nora and Ren picked up as well. They smiled at each other for their accomplishments in completing the trail halfway. Sadly, the limelight didn't last for much longer, and the Death Stalker was cracking the ice little by little.

"With all due respect, there is no way we can just run. They outclass most of us by speed," said the bounty hunter.

Ike unsheathed his sword. "We have no choice but to fight! But I think we have the edge in terms of Skill, with numbers as a bonus!"

Shulk had a vision just now. A terrain where they could have the advantage on both the monsters. "We can win the battle if we switch terrain, there are ruins not to far from here!"

"Time we left!" Said Ren.

"Right." Said Ruby as her and Cloud lead the way and waved to the others to come forth. Everyone follows them except Yang. Blake stops in her tracks to see what was up with the Blonde. "What is it?"

Yang was staring proudly at her sister. She not only got out of her shell, but she was becoming a good leader. "Nothing", said the blonde with Blake smiling in realization.

The group had finally left the forest and onto a series of ruins made long ago. The Nevermore was hot on their tails. The group decided that it was best that they split up. The monster passes overhead, scanning for its prey. The team concealed themselves behind broken rubble as the monster rest on top of a high column. Yang was annoyed the bird's persistence. "Well, that's great!"

Behind them was the Death Stalker making a dramatic entrance. "Ah, man, run!" Jaune yelled.

The group had given up on hiding, with the Nevermore reacting by rising up into the air.

"Nora, distract it!" Ren barked.

Nora ran out from her block. She leaped and dodged the rain of feathers, and reached for her weapon. She launched heart-shaped shells from what seem like a grenade launcher, all exploding into a pink electro shock while nailing the Nevermore. The Nevermore was feeling overwhelmed, so it made an attempt to retreat. Link and Marth saw the Death Stalker rushing up behind Nora and both made a leap towards the monster. Blake and Ren performed a series of slashes that formed an X to make a dent against its shell. Link and Marth both made a downward slash at the same time. Weiss had landed next to Nora and created a platform beneath them. They both leaped back to safety, with Blake, Ren, and Ike left to bait the foul beast and running as fast as they can to safety.

"Go, go!" Pyrrha yelled as she let Jaune run on ahead to get out her weapon Milo, firing red bullets with Ren spraying automatic fire. The Death Stalker attempted a swipe and barely missed. The team now regrouped; booked it out of there. The sixteen participants ran across a stone bridge with the Nevermore swooping in to crash the party. The flying beast used its giant wings to destroy the bridge right in the middle, causing the party to split in two. Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Jaune, Nora, Cloud, Samus, and Robin were on the side with a collection of while Pyrrha, Blake, Ren, Ike, Link, Shulk, Corrin, and Marth were left to fend the Death Stalker. Ruby takes aim at the Nevermore to try and do some damage while the beast was making a small tactical retreat. The battle was not looking so hot on the other side; Blake attempted to strike the Death Stalker but was beaten back.

Jaune raced over to the bridge, trying to come up with a plan to help. "Man, we gotta get over there! They need help!"

Nora came running to his side. "Let's do this!"

Jaune heart sank. He wanted to help but alas, there was a gaping abyss between the two bridges. "Yeah, but, uh… I can't make that jump."

Nora had an evil grin on her face. She knocks him back laughing maniacally while turning her weapon into a giant hammer and moves to the edge of the bridge. Jaune saw right through her plan. "Oh, wait!" Problem being was that he wasn't going to be prepared for it either way. She slammed her hammer causing the bridge to flip Jaune towards the other side. "No, no, no, no, no!"

Nora placed one foot on her hammer and pulled the trigger and used the recoil to escape the collapsing bridge. She launched herself directly towards the scorpion's face and nailed it with full force. Just when it was about to use its stinger, she pulls the trigger again to get out of harm's way. She had to pull the trigger once more to get away from its reach but in doing so she had knocked Blake off the bridge into the abyss.

Blake launches her whip with her gun blade sinking into the edge of the bridge. She circled around and leaped onto the flying beast's back. She performs multiple slashes all over its body and jumped off to land on a ruined platform next to Ruby, Yang, and Weiss.

"It's tougher than it looks!" Said an annoyed Blake.

Yang readied her Ember Celica. "Then let's hit it with everything we got!"

Samus came into the fray charging her arm cannon. "You're going to need some extra fire power."

Samus and the gang fired everything they had at the approaching Nevermore. The beast was not affected and proceeded to crash through the columns the girls were on. They leap and they leap from stone to stone until they reached higher ground. They landed on a higher bridge right below the cliffs.

"None of this is working!" Weiss yelled.

Ruby watch Blake as she whipped on over to another section of the battlefield. She also watched Yang and Samus firing round after round at the monster. She then looked to Cloud who was charging his Limit Break at the bottom of the cliff and Robin was searching through his tomes. "I have a plan! Cover me!" The girl recoiled away preparing to put her plan into action.

Down below, the other group is fending off the Death Stalker.

"I've had enough of this thing!" Ike shouted.

Shulk looked towards Jaune and gave him the signal to have his team weaken the enemy. "Everyone! After they end their barrage, we will end it with a chain attack! Link will distract the beast with bomb arrows and Marth will go in with a Shield Breaker. This will give Corrin the opportunity to keep it in its place with her Dragon Lunge. Then, Ike will smash it out of here! I'll support everyone with the appropriate Monado arts."

Jaune rushed towards the Death Stalker with his team following suit. "We gotta move!"

The Death Stalker strikes Pyrrha, but she deflected it and slashed its claw. She caused the scorpion to flinch and it attempts to go for another strike, Jaune, however, had other plans and deflected it with his shield. His shield had caused it to flinch once more giving Pyrrha the opportunity to attack its face. Ren charges towards and leaps onto the tail of the scorpion while shooting at the body area with Nora firing grenades at the claws. Pyrrha threw her javelin right between the scorpion's many eyes, causing the monster to be furious and throwing Ren to the side.

"REN!" Nora shouted.

"Let's go everyone! Time for a chain attack!" Shulk shouted as he activated the JUMP art.

Link leaped into the air and shot three bomb arrows creating a smoke screen around the Death Stalker. "Now's your chance Marth!"

Shulk changed the Monado art to BUSTER and waved his sword. Marth dashed forward to give himself momentum as he jumped towards the enemy charging his Shield Breaker. He stabbed the Death Stalker's skull clean. Cracks were giving away each second. "Corrin, lunge at it as if you were getting nerfed again!"

Corrin transformed her arm into a sharp javelin-shape and performed her Dragon Lunge and furiously trapped the enemy. Piercing through its skull and digging into the ground. "Never again."

Shulk then changed the Monado art to SMASH. "Knock it out of the park Ike!"

"Prepare yourself," Ike declared as he threw Ragnell towards the Death Stalker. Ragnell flipped the enormous beast into the air with Ike flying towards it to deliver his deadly Final Smash. "Great! Aether!" Ike dished out multiple strikes with Ragnell set ablaze. He added in punches and kicks for good measure. Each blow unleashed a fiery wave and a soul-crushing sound. Ike added three more hits with a series of backward somersaults before delivering the final blow. Ike swung his sword overhead slamming the creature causing an explosive reaction. Ike swung Ragnell to a nearby platform to escape the Collapsed bridge.

Yang had her mouth wide open. She scratched her eyes to see if she were seeing things right. "He held back on me. What a gentleman!" She focused her attention back to the nevermore. She loaded her Ember Celica and let out a barrage of bullets.

Samus jumped and landed right beside Yang. She aimed her arm cannon and unleashed a storm of missiles. The heatseekers nailed their target causing it to stagger. Yang and Samus saw this as an opportunity to take the fight closer. Yang jumped inside the monster's mouth and began shooting ferociously. "I hope you're hungry!"

Samus latched on with her plasma whip and began shooting plasma shots to its belly region. Both Yang and Samus got off and landed on a nearby platform with the Nevermore crashing into the cliffside. The Nevermore, however, rose up completely and attempted to escape the battlefield.

Blake whipped out her Gambol Shroud and tossed it to Yang who proceeded to latch it to the pillar she was on. They connected the Gambol Shroud between the two pillars for a human slingshot. Robin hops onto the ribbon while Weiss created a glyph to hold him in place. They launch the Mage upwards soaring to the Nevermore that was trying to escape.

Ruby and Cloud were beneath the Nevermore with Ruby standing atop of Cloud's Buster sword. Cloud launched Ruby with his finishing touch. Ruby was going so fast she created a sound barrier. She made it right in front of the Nevermore's face, with Robin casting a levitating spell on her.

"On my mark!" Robin yelled.

"Roger!"

Robin rained hell upon the Nevermore with a flurry of spells. The monster felt the pain of thunder, and Bolganone . Ruby sliced the Nevermore as she dashed around the body. "We're not done yet!" Robin yelled.

Cloud charged his limit break to the max with a blue aura surrounding his body. He hopped onto the slingshot and Weiss shot him with full force setting the air around his body on fire. Cloud readied his sword and performed Climhazzard. He stabbed the lower spin and ran up all the way towards the head. Cloud leaped off and landed on top of the cliff leaving the Nevermore burning in ashes.

Ruby watched as the Soldier spun his sword back into place. Robin descended towards Cloud, landing next to him with Ruby walking to his side. She put her hands on Cloud's shoulder with a big smile on her face. "You, me, and Robin should be on teams."

Cloud looked at her with a smirk. "As long as you don't hurt Smokey the Bear."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "You're still on that?"

"But of course! Smokey is a great inspiration to all Eco-terrorist!" Said Robin jokingly.

Cloud was not amused. "For the last time, I wasn't an Eco-terrorist!"

The trio laughed while putting their arms on each other side by side.

Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren watched in awe. "Wow…" said Jaune.

Ike scoffed. "He's not even going all out. None of us are."

Ren looked towards Ike in disbelief. "Please tell me you're joking."

"In all honesty, we sorta made this harder for you guys. Marth himself could have killed the Death Stalker single handily."

"The chain attack was just a test for our chemistry with one another," Shulk added.

"I...I see…" Pyrrha stammered.

Ruby's friends also looked in awe. Still processing the amount of power and energy poured into this battle. "Well, that was a thing." Said Yang.

Back in Beacon, the formation of teams were being announced. The audience were clapping and were growing louder and louder as Ozpin congratulated each individual and assigned them to their teams. "Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark." The projection of the auditorium stage showed each of their portraits and first name initials with the students lined up. Ozpin continued the ceremony. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL(Cardinal), led by... Cardin Winchester!"

The audience gave a standing ovation while the four walked off stage to make room for the next four.

"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR(Juniper)."

Nora laughed and gives Ren a hug. Lifting a huge weight off her shoulder knowing she was going to spend four years with her best friend. "Led by... Jaune Arc!"

Jaune stammered." Huh? L-Led by...?"

"Congratulations, young man," said Ozpin.

Pyrrha attempted to playfully punch her leader, but that playful punch was too much for Jaune to handle. He falls on his butt with the audience laughing in the background.

"Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY(Ruby). Led by... Ruby Rose!

Weiss had her eyes wide open in shock, with Rub reacting the same. Yang hugs her sister with much love. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Shulk. Samus. Robin. and Corrin. The four of you have collected special pieces known as Smash pieces. There were eight in all, and your team collected the Underverse pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team SSRC(Shulk). Led by… Shulk!"

Corrin jumped up into air, with a fist pump, with Robin and Samus going in for a fist bump. Shulk had the biggest grin on his face.

"And finally; Cloud Strife. Link. Ike. Marth. The four of you also collected special pieces of Smash. Your team collected the Melee pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CLIM(Climhazzard). Led by… Cloud Strife!"

Cloud's team grabbed him and tossed him into the air over and over again. Chanting his name in the process. Finally, letting him down before he hurled.  
"Now you get all the responsibilities oh fearless leader," said Ike jokingly.

Cloud smiled deviously. "Then my first order of business is for you to get stronger. I'm calling this operation One Punch Man!"

"Huh.."

"100 push ups! 100 sit ups! 100 squats! 10k running! Every single day!" Cloud shouted.

Ike let out a grumble with Marth and Link laughing in the background.

Ozpin looked at the boys with much hope. "It looks like things are shaping up to be a... interesting year."


	10. Settling in

The formation of teams has finally come to an end. For the next four years, Cloud will have to live with three other teams. At first, this scared him and the rest of the Smash crew. Four years is pretty long for a job. But Master Hand was kind enough to give them vacation time during the holidays such as spring break, summer, fall and winter break. That took a huge weight off Cloud, seeing that it would be a little weird to just disappear from Gaia for four years. He wanted to see Marlene grow and see if his friends were okay.

Team CLIM had found their dormitory. Living right across from team SSRC and right beside team RWBY. Cloud had his transdimensional bag ready to unload and a few suitcases and backpacks. Ike brought an a giant knapsack, Marth had a wagon with stuff piled at least 10 ft high. As for Link, he prompted Ike to shake him upside down. One item after another came falling down from the limitless pockets that Link somehow seems to hide. Cloud looked around the room to see what they had to work with. "Let's see… four beds in each corner. We have four desk, shelves, and a giant window. "Well guys, home sweet home."

"You know with all this stuff...we could raise two of the beds and make more room," said Link.

"Always the resourceful one Link! So what's the plan?" Asked Ike.

"Well, we could use the suitcases after Marth empties them."

Marth went in front of his wagon and spread his arms for added protection. "Why do have to use my stuff!?"

Link grinned. "Because you have the most stuff out of all of us!"

"That's preposterous! I only gathered what was necessary!"

Ike raised an eyebrow. "Marth, you basically packed for the next four years. The amount of food and clothes you've brought is enough to give to the entire school! And then some!"

"Well, Like Link always say, you can never be too prepared."

Link folded his arms and cocked his head to the side. "I don't know Marth, even I don't carry that much stuff."

Marth let out a gruff and pointed towards the ground. "Seriously!? Not that much stuff!? You carry a ball and chain for Goddess sakes!"

"What? You never know when that could come in handy."

"That's why I packed all this stuff! You never know when we're going to need it!"

Ike crossed his arms. "I dunno… I still think it's too much."

"Guys! Enough! Marth can carry his castle here for all I care! Let's just get this over with so Ike can do his workout!" Cloud shouted.

Cloud unloaded all his weapons and hanged them all on the wall to display. He used sticky magnet mounts to hang the swords in place. Link proceeded to do the same to his items that he's gathered along the way. Everything from his boomerang to the dominion rod. Ike and Marth put up every promotional Super Smash Bros poster ranging from Villager all the way to Cloud's promotional poster. To add a finishing touch, Cloud put up the Melee title sticker on their front door. To his surprise, Shulk was also putting up a sticker, except it was a U.

Corrin peeped out from the door and stuck her tongue out. "Smash 4 is better!"

Cloud turned around and put his hand up while walking back in. "Better at nerfing? Yes."

Marth peeped out from the door as well. "Come to our territory. 1v1, Final Destination… Fox only."

Shulk had to hold her back from blasting them with her Dragon Fang shot. "Now now Corrin. We'll get them back later. For now, I rather not get us charged before we get paid."

She pouted, and marched right back into the room.

"Alright, I was thinking of having one bed on each side Vertically raised, with the second horizontal bed going under the first bed," Link suggested.

The whole gang looked at Link, with Ike putting him in a headlock. "You are a genius!" Ike yelled.

Marth turned his head to the side and crossed his arms. "I'll admit, it is efficient."

Cloud wasted no time in stealing Marth's suitcases and putting them to good use. "Well, then it's settled! All in favor of using Marth's stuff, say aye!"

"Aye!" Screamed Ike and Link. Marth begrudgingly put his hands up in defeat. The Gang moved the beds to their appropriate positions and raising the vertical ones with Marth's suitcases. The four stood right next to each other in front of the whole room. They stood proud and tall with their arms to the side.

"First order of business is complete. What's next on the list?" Asked Cloud.

"Marth took out his clipboard. "Let's see here... Now we have to get into uniform."

"This thing? Ike picked up the outfit with a not so enthusiast face. "I'm not even sure if I can fit into this thing."

"Sure you will. You'll just look like a giant polar bear trying to find work," Cloud said.

Ike had put on his uniform in anger, trying not to rip the clothes to shreds. "First off, my skin complexion isn't pale, secondly… I look good." The male Beacon uniform were black suits lined with gold, accompanied by a blue vest and a white shirt with a red tie.

The rest of the gang followed suit, with Marth taking a liking to the outfit. "I could get used to this."

"Alright, next we have-"

"Classes," Marth interrupted Cloud.

Cloud took out his Binder with their school schedule. "Let's see, we have a class at 9:00-"

A sudden loud outburst was made by one of their neighbors. "What?! Did you say 9 o'clock?"

"Sounds like our lady Ice Queen," Marth said.

"Control your lady Marth," said Ike.

Cloud looked back at his binder. "Anyways, like I said before we have a class at-"

"It's 8:55, you dunce!"

The gang looked outside to see that Weiss had made a full sprint."To class!" Ruby yelled as her, Yang, and Blade ran after her.

"Come on ladies! No time for dilly-dallying!" Samus yelled with both teams making a run for it.

Team JNPR followed right after our heroes after toppling to the ground. "We're going to be late!" Jaune yelled.

As the gang sprinted towards class. Cloud and his team couldn't help but stare at Samus and Corrin's outfit. They both wore a red plaid skirt, a brown jacket with a tan vest and white shirt with a red ribbon tied at the collar. The only difference was that Samus was wearing long stockings. "What? Can't a girl rock in a school uniform?" Samus asked.

"It's not that," Cloud replied. The team couldn't help but feel as if something was out of place. Corrin noticed the boys staring and began to get flustered. They scanned her legs, then went down to see what was out of the ordinary. "Corrin, Corrin I got one question for you...WHAT ARE THOOOOOOOSE!?" Ike yelled as he pointed at Corrin's shoes.

"What on earth are you talking about?!" She replied angrily.

Link gave a chuckle. "Corrin, since when did you wear shoes?!"

"You are quite the unsanitary one," Marth added.

Corrin scoffed at them. "I'll have you know my feet are very clean!"

The teams had just made it to the courtyard with Ozpin and Glynda watching from the sidelines. Glynda checked her watch while Ozpin sipped his coffee.

Jaune had noticed that Cloud was hovering above the ground. Not putting in any effort on his legs. "Cloud! That's borderline cheating!"

"Whatever makes the trip easier," Cloud said.

"How are you even doing that?"

"...Semblance."

Ruby made her way closer to Cloud and leaped into his arms. Cloud caught her and Carried her bridal style. "There! A level playing field!" Said Ruby.

"I think this just makes two cheaters," Cloud replied.

Ruby gave the biggest grin. "Well if you can't beat'em, Join em!"

They've made it to class in the nick of time. The class structure was similar to a university setting. There were boards displaying the species of Grim: King Taitju, Death Stalker, Beowolf, Boarbatusk, Nevermore, and Ursa. All of these displays were behind and elderly teacher named Peter Port.

"Monsters! Deeeemons... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!"

*Crickets*

Ruby was awakened by Port's bad attempt at a joke. Yang and Blake were sitting up straight and attentive with Weiss taking notes. Team Rwby sat in the front row with Team CLIM to their left.

Link scratched his head, trying his best to get adjusted to the school setting. "So… how many of us have actually attended School before?"

"Come to think of it, I don't think Nibelheim had a school." Said Cloud.

"My father basically taught me everything I know, plus real world experience," Ike added.

Marth had paid attention to the lesson so far, but alas, his paper was left blank. "Not even homeschooling caused this much suffering."

Port did what he could to break the silence. "Uhhhh... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses..." He winked at Yang, in which she returned with a disgusted groan.

She looked around the room to try and alleviate what she just experience. She looked to her left to have her attention immediately grasped by Team CLIM. She looked at them with her seductive Lilac eyes and purred softly. "I'd rather have those guys wink at me." She loved Marth's suave and gentlemen like personality. She admired Link's free natured persona. Even though he doesn't say much, she enjoyed the strong silent type in battle. She then directed her eyes at Cloud. He had a cool and calm composure, with a bit of smartass for extra humor. "Just the way I like it," she thought to herself. He also had a dark and mysterious vibe to him. He was for from one dimensional. "You better get it, sis."

Then there was Ike. "Damn! He looks good in that." The school uniform did a fine job of outlining Ike's strongest assets. His chiseled face could pierce Port's eyes open. His biggest trump Card, however, was his confidence. No other man she's seen has as much confidence as Ike. She couldn't help but feel good looking at him. "Don't hold back on me next time, big boy…" She whispered softly.

The team continued to ignore Professor Port as Ruby was making a quick doodle on her paper. Ruby snickered at what she made; it was a giant ball with limbs and a head with stink lines. The title of her wonderful drawing was professor poop. She held it up for her team with Yang and Blake laughing immediately after. Weiss, however, was more annoyed than amused.

"Ah-heh-hem!" Port said trying to gain back their attention. He then continued on with his story of how he caught a Beowulf.

"How much longer can this guy go on for?" Samus said while rubbing her temples.

Robin searched through all his research and compared them to Port's displays. "Perhaps I should teach the class."

"You would be a lot easier to bear."

"I'll be sure to keep you in mind."

"Aw, you're so sweet," she said mockingly while pinching his cheeks.

"Careful, you might get an F for the day."

"I have ways of bringing that back to an A," she said as she winked at Robin.

"Heh, don't think you can persuade me that easily."

"It's worth a shot."

Corrin had fallen asleep on her stuff. Shulk saw that she was in a rather uncomfortable position. So he lifted her head and rested it on his shoulder. Much to his surprise, Corrin was barely awake. She used what ounce of strength she had left to wrap her arms around his. "Thank you," she whispered.

He smiled. "Sure thing."

Professor Bort had finally finished his story. He took a bow as Weiss frustration grew with Ruby's antics.

"The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable!"

Ruby is balancing an apple on a book with a pencil held by one finger.

"A true Huntsman must be dependable!"

Ruby went on to fall asleep again.

"A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!"

Ruby proceeded to pick her nose, with Weiss reaching her boiling point.

"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Weiss quickly raised her hand in anger. "I do, sir!"

"Well, then, let's find out!" He turns towards a cage with glowing red eyes hiding behind the bars. It was a grimm, shaking the cage it was trapped in. "Step forward, and face your opponent!"

Weiss had changed back into her regular attire. She got into a battle stance and readied her Myrtenaster. Team RWBY were cheering her on.

"Goooo, Weiss!" Yang shouted, making a fist pump.

Blake was waving a small flag that had their logo on it. "Fight well!"

"Yeah, represent teeeeam RWBY!" Ruby yelled.

Weiss lowered her weapon and glared at Ruby. "Ruby I'm trying to focus!"

Ruby gave a sheepish look. "Oh, um… Sorry…"

Port pulled out his axe and stood next to the cage. "Alright! Let the match… begin!" Professor port swings down and breaks the locks. The cage door drops with the Boartusk charging immediately towards Weiss. She deflected the attack and rolled to the side. She prepared herself for the next attack, with the Grimm standing right across from its opposition.

"Finally! The class is getting interesting." Said Ike.

"So this is what school is like." Said Link.

Both Weiss and the Grimm charged towards each other with full speed. Her blade made contact with the Grimm's tusks and got trapped. Weiss was struggling to pull her weapons out, with the Grimm tossing her around.

"She's rather sloppy today," said Robin.

"She did exceptionally well during the initiation," Shulk added.

"Come one, Weiss, Show it who's boss!" Ruby shouted.

Weiss gave Ruby the death stare with the Grimm knocking her back and flinging her sword far away.

"What is she doing? Keep your eye on the enemy!" Samus said in frustration.

Weiss snaps back into reality and realizes the Grimm charging at her again. She rolled out of harm's way, with the beast crashing into a desk. Weiss performed a slide to get her sword back into her grasp.

"Weiss! Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-"

Weiss finally had it with her leader and blew up. "Stop telling me what to do!"

Ruby's heart sunk. Her feelings were pierced by her harsh words.

The boartusk leaps into the air, rolling into a ball shape, tearing the air and grinding the ground. It charged for Weiss and once more, with Weiss reacting by creating a glyph and blocks the monster. She leaps onto the glyph, turning it black, and then blue again to propel her to the enemy. She drives the blade right into its stomach, leaving it to squeal and fall. Weiss let out a big sigh. Relieved that it was over.

"Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we're indeed in the presence of a true huntress-in-training!" Port shouts with pride.

Weiss stands up after catching her breath. Ruby continued to frown.

"I'm afraid that's all we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and… stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"

Weiss glared at Ruby once more before rushing to the exit. She paid no attention to her teammates and rushed out the scene.

Marth watched as Weiss left the classroom, with a somber look on his face. Cloud turned his attention to Ruby, who looked as if she was ready to burst into tears. "Ruby…"

It was around 11:00 pm, and most of our heroes were asleep. In team CLIM's dorm half the members were already asleep minus Cloud and Marth. Marth had just gotten a text, he got off his bed and left the room. "What was that all about?" Cloud thought.

Marth walked through the dark corridor until he reached the balcony on his floor. He saw a girl in a faded bluish sleeping gown with short sleeves and white trimming. It turned out to be Weiss in her sleep wear gazing towards the shattered moon. Marth walked closer and tapped his foot, alerting her of his presence. She turned around slowly and smiled at our Hero-King. It was a genuine smile, but a sad genuine smile. "I appreciate you for coming this late at night."

"I sense that you are troubled by today's earlier events," Said Marth.

"I've might have said some things I kinda want to take back…"

"To?"

"Ruby. I told her she had done nothing to earn her position. Then I told her Ozpin made a mistake.

Marth crossed his arms, and gave her a stern look. "I hope you-"

"I've already made things up with Ruby," She interrupted.

Marth gave out a sigh of relief and put his hand on his chest. "At least, you admit that you were in the wrong."

"Not just that, but I also had… personal talk with Professor Port. About my personality, and to just be the best person I can be."

Marth Smiled. "Sounds like you have everything under control. Why would our highness need to have me summoned?"

Weiss blushed. Despite the way she has been behaving, Marth has been gentlemen from the start. Not once did her snarky attitude turned him away Despite giving him every reason to do so. "I-I… Needed someone to vent to. She went over to him and grabbed his forearms with all her might. "I need you to just tell me everything, the truth, and no holding back."

A drop of sweat was slowly descending from the side of his face. He wasn't sure if he wanted to butter the things he was going to say to avoid hurting her feelings. Then again, maybe being blunt would help her in the long run. He took one deep breath and prepared to let her have it. "Well for starters you are quite the spoiled one."

Weiss was seething. "Not you too-"

"You have a prideful attitude, or should I say a cocky attitude."

"Are you-"

"Ah bup bup bup bup!" Marth said as held his hand up. "You're also a pretender of knowledge."

Weiss was getting angrier by the second. She was having second thoughts about him. "I swear you say one more thing-"

"You can be very stubborn and impatient just like you are now," He said as he blocked a slapped from Weiss. "Are you done?"

She was boiling with rage. "Are you done!?"

"No," He said with a grin.

She crossed her arms with a face filled with air. "Well, I am."

Marth laughed out loud. He couldn't keep up the charade any longer.

She looked in confusion. Now she was really having second thoughts about him. He must be mad she thought. She was also getting really frustrated with his antics. She knew she told him to go all out. But she couldn't handle the truth. Not in such a blunt manner anyways. Just when she was about to leave, Marth grabbed her by the arm and gave the warmest smile she had ever embraced. "Despite all that, I know deep down inside that you are a naturally good person. You have already shown that by apologizing to Ruby, and summoning me here."

She looked towards the ground, she didn't want him seeing the tears that had the potential of coming out in full force. He thought that she was a naturally good person? She would have never guessed that anyone would say that to her in a million years. She didn't want him to let her go, right now that was the only thing keeping her from bursting, besides not making eye contact. Marth grabbed his handkerchief and wiped the tears her eyes could not hold back. "I believe in you. And I believe you'll be one of the best huntresses this school has ever enrolled."

She finally made eye contact and stared for what felt like forever. He had a look that could calm even the most enraged Grimm. She didn't want to go to bed just yet. "Say, I was wondering… could we spend a little more time together?"

"Absolutely."

Five minutes after Marth had left, there was a knock on the door. "Did Marth leave his IPhone?" Cloud got up from his bed and walked towards the door. When he opened it, he was greeted by a girl with a black tank top and rose petal pajama pants. Ruby was greeted by our hero in all black tank top and shorts. "Isn't it past your bedtime miss?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be asleep?"

"Someone tried to break in."

"And I was making sure no one did."

They both laughed, with Cloud leading her to his bed. He went over to Marth's pantry and grabbed a plate full of cookies and a glass of milk. He sat next to her while setting the cookies on a desk, and giving her the glass of milk. "I assume this is about what happened earlier."

Ruby had devoured all the cookies before she could answer Cloud. She then chugged the milk in one go. Cloud gave her a blank stare. Surprised by the appetite the girl possessed. "Once again, you've shown me that caring is not sharing."

Ruby let out a breath of air. "I called first dibs."

"Heh, right on."

Ruby went from her cheery nature and turned it into a frown. "I and Weiss had a fallout after class. She told me didn't want a team led by me." The girl brought her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. "I then ran into Ozpin. He said he's made many mistakes in his life and making me a leader is not one of them." She then looked at him with her puppy eyes. "I came because I wanted to know how you're dealing with the pressure.

Cloud ruffled his hands in her hair. Playing with it as they were carrying on their conversation. She liked it a lot actually. Having him by her side was good enough, but having him touch her put her at ease. Any normal friend she had could never make her feel this good. Then again, Cloud wasn't just any normal friend. "It's not about 'me' anymore Ruby."

"What do you mean?"

"It's no longer about 'us'. It's about the well-being of the entire team. It's up to the support to help their leader while the leader helps guide them. It's not a one-sided effort. If the leader falls, the support loses their guidance. If the support falls, the leader can't reach their goal for the greater good."

Ruby was taken by surprise by his words of wisdom. Ruby was not expecting an answer like that from a fellow student. Ozpin maybe, but not one of her classmates. He made it sound like he gave his answer through personal trials in his life. She wanted to know more about him. She has never met someone so intriguing. She wasn't sure what to ask first, however, and looked around the room to see that the Buster Sword was leaning beside the window. She was puzzled at the fact that he would still use that Sword despite making a new one, She admits that the Buster Sword is some nice handiwork, but why would someone go through the trouble of making a new weapon just to use the old one. "Cloud, is there something about that Sword that keeps you from using another weapon?"

Cloud looked at his massive weapon and gained flashbacks to when he first inherited it. The time when he was on the brink of death, saved by none other than his idol, a hero long forgotten. "It belonged to a friend of mine. I inherited his honor and his dreams… I'm his living legacy. The only person to know what really happened."

Ruby was confused. What did he mean by inherited? His living legacy? "The only person to know what really what really happened?" She saw his face slowly descending into sadness. The smile that he would usually use on her was gone completely. "The price of freedom is steep."

"How steep?" She asked.

There was a long pause between the two. The tension and pressure were becoming heavier. She felt as if she asked this at the wrong time. After all, this was supposed to be a conversation about today's event with Weiss. He slowly got up and walked towards the Buster Sword, grasping the hilt. "He died. Protecting me."

Ruby's eyes widened. To think that there could have been a chance that she would have never met Cloud. Her heart sank a little while she looked at him, still hanging onto his weapon. "Is that why you still use that Sword?"

"Besides my memories of him, this is the only thing I have left to remember him by."

Ruby frowned. "Use brings about wear, tear and rust. And that's a real waste. Do you really want that to happen to the only thing you have to remember him by?"

Cloud looked back at Ruby with a sad smile. "You're a little more important than my sword Ruby." He gave a small pinch hand gesture. "Just a little."

"Just a little!?" She said with malice.

He gave a small chuckle. "But perhaps you're right."

"I'm just saying, you'd want to preserve the one thing you have left of that person."

He looked at her, and then back at the sword. He took what she just said to heart. She had a point, a really good point. "Maybe it's time to move on…" He whispered.

Ruby got up from his bed and walked over to the Buster Sword. She rested her hand on the handguard and looked into his eyes. "I think they would want you to move on."

He smiled. "You're absolutely right." Cloud looked at the clock and saw that it was 12:00 a.m. He wasn't expecting to have his little intruder in for this long. But in all honesty, he greatly appreciated the talk they had.

She gave him the biggest grim. "Looks like I killed two birds with one stone."

Cloud looked in confusion with his head slightly tilted. "You what?"

"I came and told you about my problem, and opened you up a little."

"Well since you came to me with a problem, you owe me some form of payment."

Ruby gave a devious grin, and her face flushed with red. She had all sorts of thoughts in her head that were best kept to the Cloud's imagination. He made that a little too easy to get closer to him. A light bulb sparked from her head, with the perfect payment plan. "Well-uh-you see? Well-you-know…" The little girl was all over the place. She knew what she wanted to blurt out, but her body was refusing to cooperate.

Cloud took out a thermostat out of thin air and plopped it in her mouth. Putting his hands on his chin and letting out a hum. Ruby looked in confusion. "What are you doing?"

Cloud took the thermostat and checked the temperature. "Well, you were stammering and stuttering so much. Not to mention that your face was getting red so I thought you were burning up. But according to this, you're not sick."

"Ugh! What is wrong with you? I thought you got out of your shell," she thought to herself as her inner voice was beating herself up. She tried one more desperate attempt. "Uh… we can do homework together?"

"It's 12 a.m. in the morning and you're still not finished?"

She gave him the infamous puppy eyes. "If you're finished maybe you can help me get some of the answers?"

Cloud gave the biggest facepalm. He knew he couldn't fight against that. "I'm keeping tabs on you just so you know."

Her mischievousness came back in full force. "Oh, I'll think of something."


	11. No Jauns

It was a losing battle, a one-sided battle. It was a spar between Jaune Arc and Cardin Winchester to demonstrate the use of aura. Jaune was out of breath and slouching while Cardin was standing tall unscratched. Things were looking grim for our blonde hero. From the perspectives from the audience and his peers, it was a battle where he was clearly outmatched. Cardin laughed at his opponents weakened state with Jaune gathering all the strength he could muster to charge full speed ahead and swing his blade. Cardin, however, jumped out of the way with a surprised Jaune looking back. Cardin attacked with his mace and sends Jaune and his shield flying. With only his sword in his hand, Jaune went all or nothing for the next attack, only for Cardin to block it with his weapon's hilt. With their weapons locked, Cardin forces his strength over Jaune's

"This is the part where you lose," said the towering Cardin

"Jaune used everything in his body to push back. "Over my dead-"

Carding cut him off by the knee of justice, making the poor fellow drop to the ground in pain. Cardin raised his mace overhead for the finishing blow, and just when he was about to swing it down; the buzzer rings. The auditorium lights were switched back on.

The sound of Glynda's voice causes the menace to stop. "Cardin, that's enough!" Cardin walked away in annoyance with Glynda tapping away on her tablet. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle and that the official may call the match." Jaune sat in defeat with Pyrrha feeling sorry for her leader. Glynda turned to look at the boy while he pulled out his scroll. The tablet showed blinking stats of his entire team's aura. His aura was low and in the red. "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?"

"Speak for yourself," said Cardin with a snarky tone.

Glynda turned her attention back to the students. "Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!"

Ike put his arms around Cloud and Marth while Link stood in front of them with his IPhone ready to take a snap. "You boys ready to show these newbies what we're made of?"

Marth pointed his finger towards Yang. "Well speaking of newbies… she-"

"Don't you dare," Ike interrupted.

Cloud looked over towards Jaune. He couldn't help but feel sorry for him. "You could always be Jaune."

Link looked behind to see the sad warrior still on the ground. "If I can get him to agree to train with me, he can spin attack for days!"

The bell rang with our heroes leaving while Jaune sat there with his head hanging in shame.

It was lunch time and our smashers were having a meal with Team RWBY and Team JNPR. While eating their meal, Nora tells the most outlandish story she has ever told. "So! There we were, in the middle of the night..."

"It was day," Ren corrected.

Corrin and Ike were captivated by every word while the rest of the team looked in disbelief. "We were surrounded by Ursai..."

"They were Beowolves," Ren corrected again.

"Dozens of them!" She screamed while she shot up from her seat.

"Two of 'em."

"But they were no match... And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"

Ren sighed. "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."

Jaune was messing with his food with his head in the clouds. The only thing that has been on his mind was the trouble he's been having with himself and Cardin. Pyrrha looked at her leader with much worry. "Jaune? Are you okay?"

Jaune snapped out of it and saw that the entire table was staring at him. "Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?"

"It's just that you seem a little… not okay…"

"Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look!" He boldly stated as he held his thumb up while giving a weak laugh. The team then had their attention focused on Team CRDL, who were terrorizing a girl with brown rabbit ears. Cardin laughed at her while Sky Lark held up his hands and mocked her of her unique features.

"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!" Pyrrha exclaimed.

"Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah... He just likes to mess around! You know, practical jokes!" Said our blonde liar.

Samus focused all her attention to the school bullies. She was seething with anger and she was not going to stand for another minute of it. "Practical jokes my ass! If he wants to mess around, then I'll give him someone to mess around with."

Shulk eyes glowed bright blue and saw a vision of an event that was going to happen at a moment's notice. What he saw was a lot of humiliation and injuries. His heart stopped for a moment, and he grabbed Samus by the arm. "If you're going to give them Samus time, try your best not to kill the poor fellows."

Weiss stood in front of the enraged bounty hunter with her arms outwards. "Hold on! Think before you act! You could get them, and you expelled for fighting!"

Nora jumps up from her seat with a light bulb hatching from her head. That lightbulb, however, was an evil diabolical one ready to spark a wildfire. "We'll break his legs!"

"Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone."

The whole table looked over to see that the laughing had grown louder and that Cardin was tugging the girl's rabbit ears.

"Ow! That hurts!" The girl struggled to get away as Cardin pulled even harder. "Please, stop..."

Cardin laughed at the top of his lungs. "I told you it was real!"

"What a freak!" Russel Thrush shouted.

Pyrrha looked away in disgust. "Atrocious. I can't stand people like him."

"He's not the only one..." Blake said with a piercing gaze.

Yang stared sadly as she leaned her head on her hand. " It must be hard to be a Faunus."

Cloud watched as Samus was boiling with more anger. It looked as if steam was coming right out of her ears. At this point, no amount of reasoning or rationalization could stop her. He decided that it was best to sit back and let her take the best course of action. A taste of their own medicine. Samus pushed Weiss to the side and marched over towards CRDL's direction.

"Hey!" Weiss shouted.

Ruby turned her head towards Cloud's direction. "We should help her!"

"You guys obviously don't know Samus," Ike said sipping on a cup of tea.

"I may be the team leader, but Samus will keep me in check if I act up." Said the shivering Shulk.

Cloud scratched his head and let out a big sigh. "Once she's dead set on something, there's no turning back."

Weiss was going to make her way to Samus until Marth grabbed her by the arm. She turned around and gave him the most sinister look. "Unhand me this o-"

She stopped in the middle of her sentence to see that Marth was not in his usual composure. He tried to laugh it off, but she could see the sweat starting to make their way down his face, and felt his hands tremble. "It is best that we do not stand in the way of a tyrant."

Cardin and his friends saw the blond bounty hunter walking towards them. Unlike our heroes at the table, however, Cardin's heart dropped at the sight of her beauty. He scanned her entire frame from head to toe. He had been blinded by her light. She had the perfect frame, the perfect face, the perfect… beauty mark. She was a supermodel in a schoolgirl outfit. He let go of the bunny ears and stood up, fixing his posture. "Why hello ther- oompfa!"

Cardin squealed in pain as Samus grabbed him right in the family jewel. "What are you doing?" He squeaked.

Samus gave him a seductive grin. "I just wanted to know if the rumors were true."

"What rumors?"

"The size of these things. You must be very proud." She said as she fiddled his chin.

Although he was in pain, he was awkwardly erect at the thought of his goddess fondling with his jewels and talking about them. "Well I don't mean to brag, but they are one of a kind."

She loosened her grip just a little to let him catch his breath. "If that's the case… you're mine."

Cardin's heart jumped with excitement. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. His first girlfriend in just a few weeks school. "Really!?"

Samus then turned that seductive look into a hostile one. She grabbed him by the jewels again and picked him up overhead. Cardin's face burned red, his bottom portion screamed, his stomach churned, and he had the most massive headache all at once. His team then surrounded her and readied themselves into their fighting stance. She paid no mind to the surrounding opposition and squeezed them a little harder. Cardin was ready to burst into tears until Samus slammed his body onto the lunch table and breaking it in half. The force was enough to knock the man out cold. The good news was that he was relieved of the pain… for now. As for his team, they were in for a wild ride.

Team RWBY and team JNPR were all wild-eyed. She picked up Cardin with one hand easily. Nora jumped for joy and cheered for our blonde hero. "WHoooooo! You go girl! Now break their legs!"

Blake dropped her book and gave a vacant look. The most ballsy person she knew was Yang, and Samus just one up her by a thousand. Yang slapped her face and shook to make sure she was seeing things right. Much to her surprise she was. There were three other boys surrounding her and trembling in fear. They looked as if they didn't even want to lay one finger on her. She smiled and called out to Samus. "Yeah! Show them who's boss Samus!"

The funny looking fellow with the mohawk named Russel charged from her left. The one to her right, Dove charged at the same time. Samus placed her hands onto the ground and performed a butterfly kick-styled scissors kick. She Launched both opponents into the air, Russel was kicked from the bottom his chin and Dove was kicked right in the gut. They weren't expecting such sheer force from such a small frame. Sky Lark performed a round house kick, but Samus ducked and performed a leg sweep; knocking him upwards diagonally. She then used a knife hand strike followed by a wrist-whip and an elbow strike. Each strike felt as if they shattered a bone, and carried the pain throughout his entire body. She then leaped into the air with a spinning back kick. The poor fools that were still in the air felt the full force of her heel and was knocked back all the way to the far side of the cafeteria and slamming into the wall. Sky Lark got back up from the ground and tried to go for the uppercut, but she made a quick leaping air dodge flip-kicked him smack dab in the middle of his face. She sent the gray-haired bully skidding across the floor, crashing into other lunch tables.

Samus smiled and grabbed an apple, tossing it into the air, spins, and catches it behind her. "Is that all?"

Her damsel in distress walked over to her with a radiant smile. "Wow… all that just for me?"

Samus gave her a vacant look, not understanding the comment she just made. "What are you talking about? Any asshole that hurts a sweetheart like you deserves more than what I dealt them." She gave a smirk and offered her hand. "What's your name?"

The girl was awestruck that someone like her would go so far for a faunes. She her face turned red hot with her body filling up with warmth. She forced everything she had to control a basic hand movement. To her, it felt like a million years to raise her hands upwards to meet with her hero. "My names Velvet. Velvet Scarlatina." She ran out of hair after Samus got a hold of her hand to shake it.

Samus had a doleful look on her face. She couldn't believe someone like her could be so passive despite being bullied by not one but four people at the same time. "Listen… don't just sit there and do nothing. You need something, give me a call ok?" Samus took out her IPhone with her number displayed on the screen.

For a minute her mind was absent. This was Velvet's second year in Beacon and she didn't have many friends. The fact that Samus would come to her rescue, and prompt her to call again, she wasn't sure if this was really happening right now. "Are we… friends?"

Samus rolled her eyes and put her hands on Velvet's shoulders. She then proceeded to shake the girl furiously. "We are going to be the best of friends!"

Velvet was bug-eyed. She just made a friend in less than thirty minutes without it being some fairy tale fanfiction. Try as she might, her throat had a burning sensation, and her tears came bursting with ease as she lunged for Samus and buried her head into her chest. Shulk and the rest of his team walk towards the sobbing; and together they came in to form one big group hug. Velvet looked up to see that she was surrounded by three more strangers. "Wha-what!?"

Shulk gave a grin. "Man, what a bunch of jokers."

"Let's not lose our heads, though. I'm sure they'll be back for some kind of revenge," Said Robin.

"When that time comes, It'll be Corrin time! So don't you worry! Corrin Shouted.

Velvet proceeded to cry once more, this time with tears of happiness. She's made three more friends in such a short amount of time. Maybe, this time, she'll finally get the break she deserves she thought to herself. Team CLIM walked towards the crying rabbit, with a spiky blonde making a head gesture towards the exit of the cafeteria. "Come on, We'll walk you to class."

Team RWBY and team JNPR did the same, with Jaune ahead of the pack. He looked back at his teammates with a sullen look and walked out alone.


	12. No Johns

The next subject in line for our heroes was history, taught by Professor Bartholomew Oobleck. The professor was giving a lecture on the Faunus Rights Revolution while zooming and zipping across the teaching floor. His mouth moved just as fast as his legs. Team CLIM, this time, sat above team SSRC while the other two teams sat parallel to them.

"This is prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War!" Yelled the professor as he zooms to the front of the class. "Humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." He pointed at a map containing the said area with a stick. "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" He zooms faster with each zip he makes around the classroom, all while drinking his coffee in style.

"Sheesh! Could this guy talk any faster?" Ike asked as he tried his best to take notes and keep track of the man's movements. "If he were fighting against me, I don't think I could counter that in time, and he's not even moving his legs!"

Our favorite blue haired princess -I mean prince- had his eyes closed while rubbing his temples. "Honestly, it's futile to even keep track of him. Let alone keep track of what he is saying."

"Well you guys are doing a better job than Link," Cloud said as he waved his hand in front of an expressionless face. "I can't tell if he's paying attention, or he's in his own little world."

Below Cloud's team we have an attentive Shulk who is actually processing all the information, Robin who is using his magic to write multiple lines at the same time, a copying Corrin, and Samus taking snaps of the map and notes with her IPhone using an app called office lens which transfers all she captures into text.

Shulk looked back at the other team and gave them a deadpan look. "Man, what a bunch of jokers."  
Those words caused a spark in Ike's emotions and managed to rile him up enough to motivate his team. He walked over to Link and grabbed him by the shoulder and proceeded to shake him ferociously. "Hey! Listen! If you don't pay attention, you're going to get left behind."

Link was snapped away from his daydream and was welcomed to an irritated Ike. "WH-what!?"

Cloud pushed the Ike's arms off Link and placed his own hands on the Hylian's forehead. "Hmmm….this guy are sick."

His team gave him the blankest look without any blinking. Cloud had a drop of sweat traveling down from the side of his head. He brain went one way and his mouth went the other. "Uhhh… I can explain."

"You…. you just went full retard," Ike stated plainly.

"Seriously guys I can explain!"

"Never go full retard."

"AHEM!" Said the professor as he glared our heroes down. "If you kids are done with your bantering, we can resume class."

The team went back to their normal composure as members from team RWBY and JNPR mocked and laughed at the local class troublemakers.

"Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?" Asked the professor.

Velvet hesitated and looked around to see if anyone else was raising their hand. There was one lone figure who raised their hand but she still couldn't bring up the courage to do so. Just when she was about to give up, she saw Samus staring from afar. Samus gave a thumbs up and that alone gave her the courage to raise her hand for anything. Involuntarily, her hand shot straight up with so much force she nearly jumped off her seat.

"Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" He proclaims as he sips his coffee. "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to White Fang! Now, which one of you young scallions can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War?"

Weiss raised her hand in confidence.

"Yes?"

"The battle at Fort Castle!" She boldly stated.

"Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

Cardin, our local bully, decided that it was a good idea to flick a paper football towards a sleeping Jaune who really should be paying attention in class. The paper hit with enough force to awakening our sleeping beauty. "Hey!"

Professor Oobleck zoomed right over towards Jaune in the blink of an eye. "Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?"

Jaune was still half awake and he was already experiencing a near heart attack. His heart pounded, and his brain scrambled all over the place to find an answer. "Uhhhh... The answer... The advantage... of the Faunus..." Our damsel in distress tried to focus all his attention on Pyrrha, who is trying to motion her lips to give him the answer. All while doing his best to look normal as Professor Oobleck was standing right in front of him. "...had over that guy's stuff..." Pyrrha makes a hand gesture and cups her eyes hoping for him to realize the answer. "Uhh... Binoculars!"

The classroom fills with laughter towards our lovable fool who looked rather pleased with his answer. Professor Oobleck, however, was not amused and proceeded to take another sip of his coffee. Pyrrha sighs and slaps her forehead while Cardin pounded his fist on his desk as he burned his stomach muscles.

The highly caffeinated professor zoomed right back to this desk. "Very funny, Mr. Arc! Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!"

"Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier," Cardin remarked.

Cloud was ticked. His remark had brought back memories for our mercenary. His head filled with vivid images of when he first joined the Shinra Corporation as a grunt. To Shinra, they were just cannon fodder, expendable compared to the real warriors like soldiers. They were there to suppress and take a hit. There was no glory, or being hailed as a hero. Trained like an animal, and to be killed like an animal. Cloud glared at Cardin, holding back unnecessary words to remain professional. "You're a pretty good example, aren't you?"

Cardin clenched his fist as a vein appeared on this side of his head. "Why don't you say that to my face?"

"You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?" Pyrrha interjected.

"What? You got a problem?"

"No, I have the answer! It's night vision. Many Faunus are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark."

Cardin grumbled at her know-it-all persona.

"General Lagune was inexperienced and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured." Blake added as she turned her gaze towards irritated bully. "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."

Professor Oobleck intervened as Cardin got up with his fist clenched. "Mr. Winchester! Please take your seat." Jaune laughed at his bully's embarrassing display of ignorance. The professor zoomed in towards the boy to crash his short-lived celebration. "You and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings." He stated as he took one more sip of his coffee.

Jaune moaned as he slumped his shoulders.

"Now! Moving on!" The professor said as he zoomed away once more.

The first day of Classes was finally over, Cloud and his teammates made headed towards the exit as if they were zombies of the apocalypse. Shulk and Corrin frolicked out the door with Robin following behind in a more professional manner. Samus waited for Velvet at the door to walk bunny Faunus to her dorm room.

"Ugh, School is not for me," Ike complained.

"You fared better than our green hero. I think the fellow fell asleep with his eyes closed," Marth joked.

Cloud playfully punched Link's arm. "Seriously Link. Get your head in the game."

Link smiled. "I was actually thinking of training scenarios."

Cloud was puzzled by his response. "What for? Is it for us? I think we did enough training back at the Smash Academy."

"Not us. I was referring to our sleepy friend over there getting chewed out by Mr. Caffeine."

They all looked towards Jaune was getting a lecture on his poor performance in class, along with Cardin.

"Poor guy can't get a break. It's already bad enough he's a goof on the field," said Ike.

"Although his tactical prowess is admirable," Marth added.

"Which is why I should train him. He'll be as tough as a Goron, and as sharp as a Zora at the same time!" Link said standing with a proud posture. .

"It makes sense, he's got the mind of a strategist, but the body of Zelda," said Cloud.

Link's face turned purple when his head created a vision of Zelda's body replaced with Jaune's head. His facial expression showed similar effects of a man who's just seen a ghost. "I… rather not have him wear a dress anytime soon."

"Relax! I doubt Jaune would take my advice to cross-dress seriously," Cloud said jokingly.

Marth chuckled. "I wouldn't underestimate the length that boy would go through just to get a chance of getting what he wants. Especially when it comes to our local Ice Queen."

"Marth!" Yelled Link.

"Oh relax, I bet he'd look good in a dress. Some men can actually pull it off," Ike said.

Cloud felt flustered. "Guys, let's not jinx the boy. I rather have him not go too far with that idea. I mean first you have to do squats to get a wig, just a wig! Then you have to worry about wanting the dress to be soft, or something that shimmers. Don't even get me started on who you have to sleep with to get a Tiara-"

"Cloud," Ike interrupted. "Simmer down, you're scaring Link."

"Perhaps we should put Cloud through a therapy session. You seem to have a lot of pent up emotions," Marth mocked.

Cloud crossed his arms. "Very funny."

Link about had enough of their banter. "Guys, how about you all go on ahead. I'll stick around and propose to Jaune about our master plan to buff him up."

"Alright, let us know how it goes," said Cloud as he walks off with the rest of the crew.

Link saw that the Mr. Coffee was still lecturing them, so he decided to wait outside the classroom. As soon as he made the first step out the door he was pulled by a mysterious force. Link let out a yelp and prayed to the goddesses that he wasn't being sucked up by the portal again. Alas, the mysterious force that grabbed him was Pyrrha. He realized that as soon as he saw her muscular physique, red hair and golden circlet. "Pyrrha! You made me lose a heart!"

Pyrrha pressed her ear against his chest. "Nope, it's still there. No harm done!"

"No harm done?! You nearly ripped my arm off!

"Again it's still there," she says cheerfully as she grabs and shakes his arms.

Link sighed. "Anyways, why is our red maiden still here? Class is over.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I have a proposition for your fellow teammate."

"And that is..?"

"He has a sword and shield, I have a sword and shield. It only makes sense that I should sharpen up his skills so that he may be better prepared to tackle the bigger things to come."

Pyrrha eyes widened as she clasped her hands together in excitement. "I was actually thinking about training him as well! I know a great place where no one can see us, and most importantly, him."

"Yeah… most importantly him… I can't have him disgracing the art of swords and shields any longer," said a doleful Link.

Pyrrha gave a smirk, "I knew there was something personal."

Link shrugged. "Can you blame me?"

"No."

Jaune finally left the classroom door with Cardin following right behind him. There can never be a peaceful moment between these two, however, so Cardin pushed Jaune to the ground resulting a Jaune shouting "Ow!" The bully laughed as he walked away.

Pyrrha came to offer a hand and pulled Jaune back on his feet. "You know, I really will break his legs."

Jaune sighed. "Please no. He's already lost his jewels."

Link smiled deviously and pulled out a slingshot from his never ending pocket. "A little revenge doesn't hurt."

He aimed and locked his vision behind Cardin's knee. Link pulled and stretch the rubber band as far as he could and let go without hesitation. The bullet made up of a pumpkin seed zipped through the air making a loud buzz noise. The bullet made a direct impact and caused Cardin to squeal and kneel down. He looked behind and saw an innocent Jaune, a preoccupied Pyrrha, and a devious whistling Link. "Okay, which one of you punks shot me?"

"Well, none of us has any of our equipment," Pyrrha said with innocence behind her voice.

"Are you sure you aren't imagining things? You know, phantom pain," Jaune asked nervously.

Cardin was enraged and walked with a tough boy swagger towards Link who remained silent throughout the ordeal. He grabbed him by the color and clenched his other fist. "I know you don't use a gun, so you probably have other methods no one expects. So old school, yet so stupid! He saw the slingshot in Links right hand. "A slingshot!? Don't make me laugh!"

Link gave Cardin a mocking grin. "It worked didn't it?"

Cardin snapped and performed a jab. Cardin chuckled a little only to realize that our Hylian hero had turned his head to mimic the punch, barely grazing him.

"Heh, not bad for a pipsqueak. What are you, like 5"5?"

Pyrrha and Jaune had just noticed that Link was actually one of the shorter fighters from team CLIM. In fact, Pyrrha towered over him.

Jaune had goosebumps and sweat traveling down various parts of his body. He didn't like Cardin as a normal bully. He didn't want an angry bully. Especially one that would probably take his anger out on him. "Alright Cardin, you proved your point. Now can we just get along like the pals we are?"

"Shut up!" Cardin shouted.

Link saw an attack of opportunity and grabbed Cardin by the arm that held his collar. Link twisted 180 degrees and swung his body forward sending Cardin flying. All while Link brushed his hands and fixed his collar. "You know what they say; the bigger they are, the harder they fall."

Cardin growled and stormed away from the party. Link looked at our scared blond and gave him a thumbs up. "Don't worry, we'll train you to where you'll be able to throw him further than I did!"

"Re-really?" Jaune stammered.

Pyrrha grabbed Jaune by the arm. "Of course! Now enough chit chat! We have a proposition for you!" Pyrrha pulled Jaune and ran down the hall with Link playing catch up.

Pyrrha led the crew onto a rooftop. The roof was so high that they had an incredible view of the glowing lights in the central tower of Beacon. They walked towards the edge of the roof with Link and Pyrrha gazing towards the tower. Jaune looked towards the ground and came to a grim conclusion. "Pyrrha, I know I'm going through a hard time right now, but I'm not that depressed." I can always be a farmer or something..."

Link gave the boy a puzzled look and tried to understand what the boy was going on about. The word farming triggered memories for Link when he was back in Ordan Village; rounding up goats with his horse Epona. "Farming isn't that bad," he thought.

Pyrrha caught on to the assumption Jaune made and had chills crawling up her spine. "N-n-no! That's not why we brought you up here! Jaune, we know you're having a difficult time in class and that you're still not the strongest of fighters, so... we want to help you!"

Jaune was caught by surprise. "WH-what?"

"We can train up here after class where no one can bother us!"

"Most importantly, no one can bother you," Link added.

Those words dug into him like sharp daggers. To him, they were words of pity instead of actual help. "You guys think I need help?"

"N-no! No, that's not what we meant," Pyrrha stammered.

"But you guys just said it."

Link placed his hand on Jaune's shoulder. "Jaune, heroes aren't born great. You want to know the difference between a master and a beginner? The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried."

"Link's right! You're no different from the rest of us. You made it to Beacon! That speaks volumes of what you're capable of!"

Jaune felt the guilt and burden make its way into his heart. He couldn't hold it in anymore. His soul could not keep running. He turned away from the duo and lowered his head. "You're wrong. I-I don't belong here," Jaune whispered.

"That's a terrible thing to say! Of course you do!" Pyrrha yelled.

"It's only your first year! You belong here Jaune. You just don't know it yet." Link added.

Jaune turned around with his anger unleashed. "No, I don't!" He turned his back once more so he wouldn't face his comrades. ""I wasn't really accepted into Beacon..."

"WH-what do you mean?" Pyrrha said worryingly.

Link was caught off guard by his response.

"I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests. I didn't earn my spot at this Academy!" He looked towards them again. "I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied!"

"What? But... why?" Pyrrha asked.

"Because this is always what I've wanted to be!" He looked towards the tower to avoid their gaze again. "My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too. I was just never good enough."

Link walked towards Jaune's side. "Jaune, I wasn't the warrior I am today without some training from special people from my life. The same can apply to you Jaune. Please, let us help you. You have the blood of a warrior, I can feel it."

Jaune angrily shoved Link with full force. "I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!"

Pyrrha tried to interject before things were to get out of hand. "Jaune we just want to-"

"I'm tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives! Don't you understand? If I can't do this on my own... then what good am I?"

Link reaches out for Jaune, despite the hostility. "Jaune-"

"Just… leave me alone. Okay?"

Pyrrha bowed her head with feelings of sadness overwhelming her. "Come on Link. This is what he thinks is best."

Link made a sorrowful expression and walked along with Pyrrha.

Cardin made his appearance after the duo had left him and his victim alone. He climbed up onto the roof from his dorm room. "Oh, Jaune…"

"Cardin!" Jaune shouted in shock. His heart raced so fast, his chest was beginning to hurt. How could he have been so stupid? This was the last person to know what he had done. A rush of chills wrapped around his entire body. He was paralyzed with fear.

"I couldn't help but overhear you two from my dorm room."

Many days have gone by, and our blonde damsel has been kept on a leash. Cardin has our hero's back against the wall, and he has full control of Jaune's fate in Beacon.

Both JNPR and SSRC had gathered in JNPR's dorm room to discuss the school-wide field trip they were participating tomorrow. However, as exciting as it may be to leave campus ground, the one thing that haunted everyone's mind, was the fallout of JNPR's team leader Jaune.

"How come Jaune gets home so late?" Nora asks as she hops on her bed.

"He's become rather scarce since he started fraternizing with Cardin," Ren added.

"That's weird... Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow? We need our rest!" Nora yells as she falls and twirls towards her bed.

Samus had her arms crossed with the thought of Jaune getting all buddy-buddy with Cardin. Her stomach felt sick, and she involuntarily grits her teeth just thinking about it. "Ugh, after all, that he has done to him, he wants to be his friend? That's not normal!"

Nora raised her legs up and mimicked a karate chop. "Maybe he's waiting for the right time to break his legs?"

Robin closed the book he was studying out of. "Doubt it. Our friend is taking his dear sweet time to tip the scales. For the past couple of days, he's been his errand boy for homework, snacks, and weird intimate stuff with Cardin."

Pyrrha's eyes widened. The thought of Jaune and Cardin getting intimate were outlandish. "INTIMATE!?"

Robin raised his hands in front of him and made a circular motion. "N-no! Massaging!"

Pyrrha let out a sigh of relief.

Shulk had received a vision from the Monado. In his vision, it showed Jaune holding a jar of tree sap aimed towards Samus. Though from what he can see, he's hesitating and Cardin is with his buddies barking orders for him to hurry up and throw it. Corrin saw the glow in Shulk's eyes and knew what he was experiencing. "What is it Shulk?"

Shulk snapped back into the present day and looked towards Corrin. She gave Shulk the brightest grin any person could have. "Please tell me we get to break Cardin's legs. At least Samus gets to right?" Corrin asked.

Shulk got up from his chair to gain the attention from his peers around him. "Guys, don't you think there's something fishy going on between those two?"

"Yeah, they're both the best of friends," Samus scoffed.

Shulk shook his head. "Not what they are, but why? It's too out of Jaune's character to just befriend his local bully."

"I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing," Pyrrha sarcastically said.

Nora and Ren exchanged glances, both feeling doubtful about their leader's handling of the situation.

Unaware of his presence, Jaune walked away from his door and hanged his head. Only to be interrupted by a high pitched voice. It startled him so bad that he turned in less than a second only to see that it was Cloud and Ruby.

Ruby playfully giggled at Jaune's reaction. "Hey, Jaune!" Long time, no see! Did you lock yourself out again?"

"Oh, uh, nope!" He says as he raises his scroll and forces a laugh. "Got it!"

"We haven't see you around these parts lately. You're harder to find than Cardin's manhood," Cloud said jokingly.

Jaune gave a genuine chuckle. That was just what he needed in this whole ordeal.

"So what's up?" Cloud asked.

"I, uh..." Jaune didn't know where to begin. He tries to find a starting point, but ultimately fails and instead, emotions stir up and he lowers his head. "I messed up. I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin has me on a leash, and Pyrrha won't even talk to me, and..." He took one big breather. "I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea." He presses his back against his door and slides down sulking. "I'm a failure."

"Nope!" Ruby said plainly.

Jaune startled by her once more. "'Nope?'"

"Nope! You're a leader now, Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure."

"But... what if I'm a failure at being a leader?"

"Is there such thing as a perfect leader?" Cloud asked as him and Ruby sat next to Jaune.

Jaune's genuine chuckle turned into a genuine laugh. "You know, you guys are not making this easy for me."

"Nope!" Ruby said once more. "Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid..." "Ouch," Cloud thought.

And you might've even been a failure the first day we met!"

"Okay Ruby, the savagery is going too far," Cloud thought.

"But, you can't be one now. You know why?"

"Uhhh, because...?" Jaune ask as he tilts his head to the side.

"Because it's not just about you anymore. You've got a team now, Jaune. We both do! And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us." We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second. She looks towards Cloud and meets his gaze. "Another leader told me this when I was in a rut." Cloud got up and offered his hand to Ruby. She gladly accepts his firm grip and effortlessly rises with him. He smiled at her, proud of the fact that she was growing, and taking his advice to heart.

Cloud then looked towards Jaune; whom could feel the positive energy emitting from our spiky hero. "Great leaders don't set out to be a leader… They set out to make a difference. It's never about the Role; always about the goal."

Jaune felt great feelings of inspiration. He was thankful to have the friends he has in Beacon. Despite not being the strongest, they cared for him dearly. Albeit they have a funny way of showing it sometimes. Jaune also couldn't help but admire the spiky mercenary. To him, he was like an older brother of sorts. "Cloud, could you be honest just this instant?"

Cloud raised an eyebrow; and if he was in an anime a question mark would pop out of his head. "Lay it on me."

"Could I ever be as strong as you?"

Cloud smiled. But somewhere inside was self-doubt of how powerful he really was. He couldn't sound arrogant if he tried. "You really want to know how?"

"How?"

The ex-SOLDIER shrugged. "No Johns."

Jaune was thrown off from the response. "What do you mean no Johns!?"

"No excuses, no matter how much the world throws at you."

Jaune frowned. "Did we have to use my name for that term?"

"There is no better fit than a Jaune," Cloud said as he points at him.

Jaune grumbled and noticed that Ruby was still here with them. Normally she would be asleep this late at night. He realized the two have been hanging out with each other more as of late. "You two have some awesome chemistry going on here."

Ruby blushed, feeling good about the acknowledgement of how far their friendship has grown. "Oh well, you know. Us Giant weapon wielders got to stick together you know!"

"Oh really," Cloud thought. He crossed his arms and looked away from the other two. "If anything, "I wish I was spending more time with Juan. He could at least help me get this school work done faster."

Ruby slumped and made her signature frown. "Hey now! I am great with homework! I'll have you know Weiss prepares my coffee with cream and five sugars!"

"None of that matters if you're wasting all that energy spending 30 min on one question while playing GRIM Eclipse on your phone!

"Hey, that game is productive and you know it!" She proclaims as she jumps up and down.

Jaune laughed and walked away before he could get sucked into the bickering. His moment of peace didn't' last long however, as he has yet, another notification from Cardin.

The night came and went. Here we arrive at in the beautiful forest of red leaves and gray trunks. Cloud and Shulk's team looked in awe; they thought the campus of Beacon was beautiful. This place on the other hand was purely breathtaking. Cloud haven't felt like this since he was caring for the flower bed back in the slums. "One day, Gaia will look this good again."

"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so." Glynda said plainly.

"Yup, it's a Beacon trip," said Ike.

Samus smirked at the blue haired knight. "It wouldn't feel like home unless there's death involved.

Ike burst out laughing. "You're absolutely right!"

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here by 4 o'clock. Have fun!"

Cloud and the gang went straight to collecting the sap as quickly as possible. Cloud filled the sweet sticky sap rather quickly because the tree he had gathered from was ripe and ready for extraction. So he ordered anyone close to him to come over to his spot and hand him their jar. Corrin was first in line to hand him her jar. Cloud gave her the one he just filled up and went on to fill hers. When he returned to his jar, however, his was cleaned out. Wide-eyed and confused, Cloud gave our dragon his signature fixed dark look. "Did you pour out my sap?"

She licked the remaining sap around her lips. "No silly! I ate it! Why would I waste perfectly good tree sap!?"

Cloud sighed. He couldn't believe there was someone like her who could down an entire jar that fast. "Just don't eat the next one." He gave her back her jar and refilled his again. He stuck out his hand for the next jar in line and fills that one. When he hands back the jar, there wasn't a replacement jar for the next 15 seconds. He looked back and saw Ike, Marth, Robin, Shulk and Samus eating out of the jar he just handed out. "Seriously!?"

"We got to stock up on this stuff!" Said Ike as he licks his fingers.

"You know what they say? Sharing is caring!" Robin said enthusiastically.

Suddenly a loud roar echoes throughout the entire forest, and Cardin's teammates run away from where the sound was being emitted. "Ursa! Ursa!" Russel screamed as he bumped into Yang.

Unfazed, she went straight to the point. What!? Where?

"Back there! It's got Cardin!"

Pyrrha dropped her jar of sap and looked dead at Link with him doing the same. "Jaune!" They both shouted.

"Yang! You and Blake, go get Professor Goodwitch!" Ruby barked.

Pyrrha looked over to her teammates and ordered them to do the same. "You two, go with them! There could be more!"

Cloud got into his leadership composure. "Shulk! Take your team and assist the others! Ike and Marth, keep them out of trouble.

Cloud, Link, Pyrrha, Ruby and Weiss sprinted their way to Jaune and Cardin rescue as fast as they could. When they arrived at the scene. They were greeted with an Ursa who leaned over towards its victim who happened to be the infamous bully himself.

"Oh, no!" said a grim Pyrrha

The Ursa went in for the killing blow and swiped its paw downwards. Alas, a blond figure comes to Cardin's rescue. However, it is not our spiky blond hero. To everyone's surprise, it was Jaune right under his shield: Crocea Mors. Jaune could not last long, however, so the team readies their weapon for the worst to come.

Pyrrha put her arms in front of her peers. "Wait!"

Link looked to Pyrrha and gave her a cheeky smirk. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Pyrrha smirked back. "Oh yes."

Link unsheathed his sword and shield and stood about 20ft from the rest of the party. "Let's put those powers of yours to good use, shall we?"

Pyrrha watched Link as she stuck her hand out towards Jaune.

Jaune starts off the battle with a Jump attack, making a direct hit and causing the Ursa to scar. "What the heck?" He thought to himself. "I didn't know I had it in me!" The Ursa lashes out at him with a fury of slashes with Jaune responding by rolling behind the Ursa and performing a backside.

Cloud was in shock with Jaune's newly found fighting ability. "Where was he when we needed help against the Scorpion and that giant bird!?"

Ruby tugs on Cloud to grab his attention and points out to Link. Cloud then realizes Jaune mimicking Link's fighting style with Pyrrha acting as if she was controlling Jaune as a puppet.

. The Ursa brought its claw back as far as it could and lunged it forward hoping to send Jaune flying. Ruby and Weiss saw that Jaune was not moving into a dodge. The girls both grew anxious as they both shouted for him to move out of the way.

Cloud was unfazed, having full confidence in the outcome. "Have faith in him. You're going to love this."

Link got raised his shield with Pyrrha manipulating Jaune to do the same. The Ursa met the shield with full impact. However, instead of sending Jaune flying, the Ursa had its claw blown away with the ramming of the shield. Link knowing that it was dazed and vulnerable prepared for the final blow. "No matter how well tempered a blade, or claw, if a foe is clad in armor and bears a shield, the weapon will do it no harm." Link and Jaune leaped into the air and performed the helm splitter. Splitting the Ursa's head with a slicing somersault.

Jaws drop from both Ruby and Weiss with the smooth execution made by Jaune.

Cloud still unfazed by the matter was secretly proud of Pyrrha and Link for their smart teamwork. "And that's how you JV3."

Ruby looked at Pyrrha as her hand stops glowing. "Uhhhh… what just happened?"

Weiss was just as curious. "How did you…?"

Pyrrha smiled. "Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs. My Semblance is polarity."

Ruby was in awe of the power Pyrrha possessed. "Whoa, you can control poles..."

"No, you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism!" Weiss scolded.

"Magnets are cool, too..." Ruby whispered.

"Let's not forget about our amazing lead choreographer. Pyrrha said as she points towards Link.

Cloud and Pyrrha looked to each other, both acknowledging what they should do with the situation and decided to leave the scene.

Weiss noticed the pair leaving without warning. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Yeah! We gotta tell them what happened!" Ruby added.

"We could... Or perhaps we could keep it our little secret?" She looks towards Link who was sheathing his equipment and gave him a thumbs up. Link returned the favor and did the same.

Later that night, most of the students were either asleep or resting in their dorms. Three people in particular, however, were causing a bit of a ruckus. Pyrrha Lunged at Jaune with Milo with Jaune weapons still sheathed. Just as she almost drives her weapon into his chest piece; Jaune conducted a very fast spin while drawing his blade and swinging it. The force blew our red huntress and slammed her against the wall.

"And that's how you do the Mortal Draw!" Link said as he jumped up in the air for joy.

Pyrrha rose up slowly, still feeling the impact of the wall... "Ok Link, I think it's your turn to get hurt."

"Nonsense! Jaune still needs to learn the spin attack!"

Pyrrha Pulled Link's shield and master sword away from him and threw them elsewhere with her semblance. She then aimed her weapon dead at Link.

Link sweated furiously and raised his hands in mercy. "Ok! OK! You win!"

Pyrrha nodded. "It's too late for that."

Jaune stepped in front of Link before Pyrrha could seriously do some damage. "G-guys! You know Ren made pancakes! We may not have Syrup, pancakes are delicious none of the less!"

Unless someone has syrup, someone is going to have to pay for tonight. Pyrrha said with an evil smile.

Link dug into his pouch and pulled out a bottle of tree sap. "Um...truce?"

Pyrrha withdrew her weapon and smile. "That's more like it."

Link sighed and handed her the tree sap, only to have Pyrrha push him to the ground. She tricked him he thought. He didn't have his weapons, and he was vulnerable. He wasn't ready to face the worst that had yet to come.

Pyrrha giggled at our sacred Hylian. "Your stance was off. So I took an attack of opportunity."

Link rolled his eyes and took the hand Jaune offered. "Very funny."

Jaune ran towards the entrance, signaling an arm gesture for them to hurry. "Come on guys! Pancakes await! Oh, and hide the tree sap from Nora."

Author's note:

 **I'd like to thank MetaLX99 for editing chapter 12. I appreciate all the revisions and proper line spacing to make it easier for everyone to read. You rock dude!**


	13. Fallout

Inside the tallest property of beacon resides the man in charge of Beacon himself. Cloud and the gang were lined up against each other, to await a special request from their client. The office was a sight to behold, and it was Cloud's first time in Ozpin's office. "We've been enrolled for months and we're just now being called into his office?" Cloud thought. "Wonder what's on his mind?" Cloud observed his surroundings and saw that Ozpin had quite a setup. Cloud could see a large part of the campus from his view thanks to the large windows that surrounded the room. Add extra incentives to the view and you got yourself nice furniture, a modern aesthetic, and a pleasant scent reminiscent of Master Hand's office.

A door creaked open slowly, with the scent of coffee slowly filling the room. Ozpin made his way towards his desk and sat down in his high quality office chair. Ozpin's gaze made our heroes feel uneasy. The room felt as if there was some kind of invisible weight bearing down on Cloud and the gang.

"I'm sure all of you have questions that need answers; so I'll answer ahead of time," said Ozpin as he took a dose of caffeine.

"I want all of you to participate in the vital festival."

The four looked at each other in confusion. "I'm sorry, what is that again? Asked Ike.

"Have you not seen the thousands of posters hanged plastered all over Beacon?" Ozpin asked with an eyebrow raised.

"With all due respect headmaster, don't we have other businesses that need to be addressed? Asked Marth.

Link put his hands to the side, "You've left us in the dark for quite a while now. We've been attending lectures, and various odd jobs like collecting tree sap with no clear mission."

"Seriously, the last thing we need is to beat on a bunch of kids", Ike added as he rolled his shoulder.

Ozpin frowned at the impatient crew, "Come on, have a little faith in me." He took another sip of his coffee and let out a deep sigh. "I want to make sure this tournament runs smoothly. However, I want to do this in a more discreet manner. I need you four or rather, Eight to not only participate but to make sure to protect as you are doing battle.

Cloud put his arm on his hips and leaned towards the side. "I see, bodyguards in disguise.

"Precisely! The Vytal Festival was created to serve as a celebration of peace between the Kingdoms. Every two years, a Kingdom would be chosen to open its doors to the world, allowing citizens from every corner of Remnant to meet and indulge in one another's cultures. The last thing we need is a high security militia, lest we scare the citizens."

"I'd think we'd scare them more if we beat their students to a pulp," Ike said with a snarky tone.

Ozpin grinned. "Oh don't you worry about that, I have invited some guest for you that will be on par with your skill level. However…" he took one more sip of his coffee. "Do not underestimate my students. They are stronger than you give them credit for."

"They have a lot of potential to grow. They're still in training. They still have yet to face the real world, however," Cloud thought.

Ozpin set down his empty mug and glared at the four with a serious expression on his face. "I won't lie to you, this is the perfect opportunity for the enemy to strike fear into the hearts of the people, and breach into our defenses."

"The Grimm?" Cloud asked.

"Much worse."

"What can be worse than the Grimm?

"People that use the Grimm as mere puppets amongst the shadows. The same people who want to bring despair to the peace we've had for so long."

Cloud swung his arm to the side to cut the rest of Ozpin's speech. "Cut to the chase Ozpin. These people can't just wreak havoc for no apparent reason. You mentioned wanting to cut into Beacon's defenses. What are you hiding that is so important to them?"

Ozpin turned his back to the four smashers with a worrying expression towards the horizon. "In due time I will let you know, but for now I can't risk spreading information that could spread panic amongst the people of Vale.

Link shrugged his shoulders in disbelief. "Headmaster, for your sake I hope you know what you are doing."

Marth brushed his hair back and let out a sigh. "We'll just have to put all our trust and faith in you. But please do make haste to inform us soon."

Cloud made his way to the elevator, signaling his comrades to follow. "Alright guys, let's hit it."

As they entered the elevator, Ike made one last comment before the doors closed. "Well be sure to rally the mission to the other team. They won't be too happy though."

The room fell silent as soon as the elevator carried our heroes down. Ozpin walked over towards the front glass to gaze out towards the campus. "I pray that I am doing the right thing."

After letting the other team in on the mission, our heroes departed to the docks of Vale to see the preparation of the festival. Cloud took in as much as he could from the scene. It was amazing what these people could do to change the look almost completely from what it originally looked before. The town felt alive and the energy in the atmosphere spiked at levels at which Cloud was not familiar in his own world. Red, yellow, and green streamers and balloons were on display. There was a sign that was put up by the same old shopkeeper Cloud saved during his first encounter in Remnant that read "Welcome to Vale!"

"Man, I'm pumped! These people really know how to throw down!" Ike said punching his palm. "Can't wait to see what our competition is!"

"You can have'em. I'm more focused on that…," Link pointed with drool hanging from his lips at the poster displaying all the festival food.

"Many Kingdoms coming together to celebrate peace and prosperity through music, food, and battle. Truly, what a time to be alive. What exactly is Ozpin so afraid of?"

"Afraid enough to hire outsiders into his world," Cloud replied.

The gang notices a nearby Dust store as they were making their way to the docks. The Dust store had been vandalized and robbed. They overheard the police mentioning that this was the second robbery this week, with none of the money being taken. They also mentioned that the White Fang could have been behind all these robberies.

"Not everything is as peaceful as it seems," said Marth.

"I bet you anything that Roman Torchwick guy that I stopped a while back is behind all this," Cloud added.

Before they could finish their conversation, a loud voice in the form of a girl in a white dress shouted at our heroes of Smash. "Quick! Apprehend the hooligan!" Team RWBY were in hot pursuit of what seemed to be a tan-skinned boy with short spiky light-blonde hair and dark-gray eyes. He wore two red wrist bracers and an open loose collared white jacket with no shirt underneath, displaying his muscular physique. He also wore blue cargo pants tied up with a white belt. He wore white bandages on his legs and had a chain hanging from the belt loop on the right side of his pants.

"Oh great. The last thing my life needs is another Tidus," Cloud thought.

The blond quickly sprinted past three of our heroes except for Link who managed to apprehend the blond sumo style. They looked each other in the eye for a moment, with the blond gasping with his eyes wide open. "Whoa, wicked!

Link distracted by what he said gave the blond the opportunity to slip through his grip and leap towards the roof for a getaway.

Weiss walked over stomping and disappointed. "Ugh! You let him get away!"

Link was in his own world, recalling the words uttered by the boy who got away. "Wicked…" he whispered.  
Weiss snapped her fingers in front of the Hylian face. "Hello! Earth to Link! Are you even listening?"

Link had a sweat drop from his face and gave a worried smile. "Uhh..yeah of course! Every single word!  
Weiss saw right through the lie and spun backwards with her arm out. Making a direct hit towards a...thing? Person? Her hand was in pain. Either she hit really hard, or the person was very built, she thought. "Ow..I'm so sorry!"

The stranger that she whacked turned out to be a girl. She had short, curly orange hair, and she wore a pink bow on the back of her head. She also had bright green eyes, light skin, and freckles. She wore a blouse with short overalls, as well as a black and green collar with a matching pair of stockings. "Sal-u-ta-tions!" She said aloud.

Everybody gave a slow wave; not sure of how to react to the awkward girl. Yang was the first to break the ice. "Are you… okay?"

"I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking," said the girl cheerfully.

Both teams looked at each other in confusion, this time Cloud offering his hand to get her up. Of all the oddballs Cloud has encountered, this one topped above Ruby in his books. "I don't think it's very clean down there. Don't worry, I'll protect you from our Ice tyrant.  
"Hey!" Weiss barked.

Much to Cloud's surprise, the girl didn't need to grab his hand. She leaped back on her feet making Cloud flinch backwards. "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Cloud Strife."

"Ike."

"Marth."

"Link."

"Hi penny. I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked bluntly.

Ike punched her on the shoulder mildly. Resulting in enough pain to tick her off. "Ow, watch it!"

"Be nice," Ike said playfully.

"I'll be nice once I slam you down again."

Ike cracked his knuckles and gave her a smirk. "Ready when you are hot stuff."

Our fiery blonde maiden was taken aback. Blushing and confused, she wasn't sure to take that as flirting or for the fact the literal fire unleashes when she's angry.

"Ahem," Blake interrupted to snap Yang back to introduce herself.

"Oh, I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny repeated.

"You already said that." Weiss plainly stated.

Penny paused for a moment. "So I did!"

"Yep, definitely weirder than Ruby," Cloud thought.

The awkward silence was so bad the sound of the wind chimed in to try and help ease the quiet setting.

"Well, sorry for hitting you!" The gang turns around to leave the girl by herself.

"See you around friend," Ike said waving.

"Take care, friend!" Ruby added.

Yang made sure to add in a comment after they got far enough away from penny. "She was… weird…"

Weiss was too busy surveying the area to really care about their encounter. "Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?"

"What did you call me?" Penny asked as she jump scares the group.

Weiss was in a state of shock and didn't know how to react.

"Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me!" Yang said.

"No, not you." She walks through the group and points towards Ruby and Ike. "Them!"

"Me? I-I don't know. I, what I, um, uh..." She was trying to get words out that were at least somewhat honest, without being hurtful.

"You called me 'friend'! Am I really your friend?" She asked as she got closer to Ike.  
Ike was confused. He never had anyone question friendship before. "Starting today you are!"

Ruby turned around to see that her team was sulking in despair with Ike's answer. Penny, on the other hand, was filled with joy and laughs. "Sensational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!" She made way for her hand to hover over Ike's chiseled face. "Speaking of which…"

Yang pushed her hand down before she could go any further. "Okaaaay… back to the subject at hand. What are you doing in Vale?"

"I'm here to fight in the tournament."

"Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked in shock.

"I'm combat ready!" She claimed while saluting.

"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part," Weiss scoffed.  
"Says the girl wearing a dress," Blake insulted.  
"It's a combat skirt! Said the white mistress with her arms crossed.  
Ruby zipped towards her combat skirt twin to give her a low five. "Yeah!" Both the ladies looked at Link, giving him the look. "Link, what are you doing!? Get your but over here! Said the little red one.

Link groaned. "I'm not wearing a combat skirt! This is a hero's garb which is way more reliable and fashionable.

Cloud walked over to put his arm over Link. "Aaand it probably reeks like Wario's breath because of it being passed down for generations. The ultimate hand-me-downs of hand-me-downs.

Both teams laughed with Link Slumping and sulking.  
"Wait a minute," Weiss says startling everyone after realizing the event that occurred before. She walked over to penny and grabbed her by the shoulder. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed... rapscallion?"  
"The who...?" Penny replied sheepishly.

She held up a rather sloppy drawing of the suspect at hand. "The filthy Faunus from the boat!"

"Why do you keep saying that?!" Blake interrupted.

"Huh?" Weiss replied while turning her attention to Blake.

Blake stormed over to Weiss.

"I don't think I recall her calling him a degener-" Marth tried to say before getting cut off by Weiss.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?"

"Stop it!" Blake demanded.

"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!"

At this point, she was fuming. She growled the more Weiss talked. "You ignorant little brat!"

Weiss was getting annoyed, and that little offended our snowflake. "How dare you talk to me like that! I am your teammate!"

"You are a judgmental little girl."

"What in the world makes you say that?"

"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!"

"We have to stop this!" Marth took a step before getting cut off by our spiky blond.

"Relax. I rather not piss these two off anymore than they already are," Cloud said with a stern look.

Yang grabbed Ike's right arm to signal a quiet escape. "Um, I think we should probably go..."

Penny grabbed Ike's other arm along with Ruby's. "Where are we going?"

The conversation carried all the way to the evening back to Beacon in RWBY's dorm.

"Ugh, this is why I hate politics," Cloud said with his palm on his forehead.

"They've been at this all day," Ike added.

"If you guys would have just let me end it earlier we could have-"

"Girls are scary when they're mad. You should know from Samus." Link interrupted Marth.

"Point made."

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" Weiss exclaimed.

"That is the problem!" Blake barked back.

Weiss hastily got off from her bed. "You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"

Blake quickly got up as well. "There's no such thing as pure evil! Why do you think they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like you, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

"People like me?"

"You're discriminatory!"

"I'm a victim!" Cloud watched as the duo stare each other down in the awkward silence. "Damn it Ozpin. You didn't pay me to handle melodrama." Cloud thought.

Weiss leaned against the bookshelf by the window and whispered out. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus? "It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear; board members executed; an entire train car full of Dust, stolen. And every day, my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood." Weiss proceeded to bang her fist on the bookshelf.

Marth looked at Weiss with empathy. Had he known what she's been bottling up, he could have eased the pain sooner. "Weiss - he and Ruby said in unison.

"No!" She yelled as she walked over to Blake. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake finally popped off.

Silence had taken over the scene once more, without the wind coming over to sooth it. Weiss backs away slowly, shocked and a little scared. Blake realized what she had done as she looks around her peers. Her stomach churned and her heart sank. "I... I..." not finishing her sentence, she quickly dashes out the door.

"Blake, wait! Come back!" Ruby sprints right after Blake.

Link looked towards Cloud who gave a nod to green light the chase. They both follow suit right after.

Ike went over to Yang who in return gave him a saddened look. "Hey, you want to get fresh air?"

She grabs him by the arm and looks down towards the ground. Feeling sad that her team is in a broken state. "Lets.

The pair walked out. Leaving Marth and Weiss alone. Marth not knowing what to say simply put his hand over her shoulder, and gave her a reassuring smile.


	14. Just the beginning

The next morning. Cloud's team had the luxury of having someone wake them with constant banging on their door. Cloud got up and saw everyone else trying to ignore the issue by rolling the other way or covering with a pillow. Pissed off, Cloud got up to get the door with a disgruntled look. "I swear this better be important."  
He opened the door with Ruby making a mad dash towards Cloud and shaking him from the waist. "Cloud she hasn't came back!"

Cloud shook off his anger. "Wait, are you sure she didn't just leave early in the morning?"

"Her bed is perfectly made as it was since yesterday."

"Did you check any of your boxes?"

"Cloud!"

"Alright I'm sorry! Alright guys le-" Cloud quickly turned his head to call his teammates only to see that they were dressed and combat ready. With Cloud standing in shame in his tank top and shorts. "...I'll meet you guys out there."

Retracing the streets of the town, Blake was nowhere to be found. Everyone was calling out for her name, all except for Weiss.

"Weiiiiss, you're not helping!" Ruby said turning towards Weiss.

"Oh! You know what might be able to help? The police!" Weiss replied.

"Ugh, Weiss..."

"It was just an idea!"

"Yeah, a bad one."

Cloud made an abrupt stop, having the group leave him behind before they noticed that he had stopped walking.

"Cloud?" Ike said subtly.

The blonde crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "This isn't working. We need to work smarter, not harder."

"I agree, I say we go with my idea!" Weiss said raising her hand.

Cloud shook his head. "Blake is probably too smart and stealthy for the police. Especially if we're having a hard time finding her."

"Should we split up and try reconnaissance?" Marth Suggested.

"That and…" Cloud said slowly as he stared at Link. "We have a trump card."

"Are you sure?" Link asked worryingly.

"Go for it."

Link dug into his adventure pouch and pulled a figurine in the shape of a wolf.

Ruby eyed the figurine in awe. "Ooooh! I didn't know you were into action figures too! She then proceeded to scratch her head. "Uh...how are we going to find Blake with this?"

Link chuckled. "It's not an action figure Ruby. It's an amiibo!

"A what!?" Yang said cocking her head in confusion.

"It has special properties in it to make drastic changes."

Team RWBY reacted with blank stares.

"It's part of my semblance."

"Well show us!" Weiss barked.

Link spread his legs shoulder length apart to ready a stance. Then with the amiibo in his left hand, he smashed it together with his right palm. Link's body dissolved into many black pixelated shadows until his figure was no longer human like. The shadows then rapidly gathered together to take the form of a creature with four legs. The entire cast of RWBY looked with eyes wide open. Ruby was amazed with the different kind of powers team CLIM possessed. Yang couldn't help but wonder if Link was really a furry. Weiss came to the conclusion that Link was another secret Faunus.

Link barked at Weiss with the happiest tone he could muster.

"Don't worry Weiss, he's not a Faunus." Ike said in a joking matter.

Weiss was still not convinced, and she inched her way closer towards Marth. "I'll hold you to that."

Link started sniffing the ground and picked up a scent from a piece of cloth lying on the ground with a scent that was strongly reminiscent of Blake.

Weiss looked with a slight disgust. "Please tell me that he doesn't just randomly sniff us out."

Marth laughed. "Well, our good fellow here does have an idea of what everyone smells like."

Link barked and leaped onto the rooftop quickly leaving the scene.

"Alright friends! Let's find our black damsel in hiding!" Yelled Ike.

"I'm right behind you!" Said a familiar yet haunting voice.

The whole group jumped in fear and quickly turned around to realize that it was none other than our bubbly yet and quirky ginger. "Aaaah! Penny! Where did you come from!?" Ruby asked.

"Well, Ike asked for help from his friends, and I'm one of them!" Penny said cheerfully.

The entire team gave Ike the evil eye with Ike letting out a scared laugh with his hands in front of him.

"Do you...know who we're looking for?" Yang asked.

"Of course! I heard you guys calling out for the Faunus girl!"

They all stared at Penny for a good minute.

"Wait, how did you know that?" Ruby asked.

Penny pointed at her head. "Uhh, the cat ears?"

Yang tried to laugh it off. "What cat ears? She wears a... bow..."

The wind came over to ease the silence once more.

"She does like tuna a lot…" Ruby whispered.

"So, where is she?" Penny asked.

"If we knew, we wouldn't be on this search now would we?" Cloud said with a snark.

Ruby punch Cloud's gut as hard as she could. Alas his abs were rather hard.

"Well count me in on the hunt! I won't rest until we find her!"

"Uh, that's really nice of you, Penny, but we're okay! Really! Right, guys?" Ruby said trying to maintain her fake smile.

Ruby only saw silhouettes of those who were there just a second ago. Including Ike who she thought Penny would best be paired with for the mission. She also realized this was the one time Cloud didn't stay for her rescue. "Really Cloud?"

The wind came over to play its version of the world's smallest violin, with a special guest appearance by a tumbleweed.

"It sure is windy today!" Penny stated.

Link followed the trail as closely as possible jumping from rooftop to rooftop. "Has Blake ever tried to run away like a normal person? Like using the streets or alleyways?" Link came to a complete stop as Blake's scent became stronger. He looked down from the roof and saw two people sitting at a cafe. One being the Ruffian Weiss claims him to be, and Blake to Link's surprise. He jumped down quickly and hid behind the building and peeked around the corner to hear the conversation.

"Hey look! It's a puppy!" The blond ruffian yelled as he pointed towards Link's hiding spot.

Blake jumped. "A WHAT!?"  
"Drat!" Link came out of the shadows and crawled his way towards the duo. Blake jumped onto of the table hissing at him with the blond laughing hysterically.

"Wow! You really are a cat!" Tidus said jokingly.

Blake unamused with the rapscallion's comment cowered in fear. Her body shook as violently as she hissed at our wolf friend. "Well don't just stand there! Throw your banana at him!"

Tidus rolled his eyes. "Dogs don't like bananas, they want bones!"

"Well then throw him a bone!"

"But all we had was tea."

"Well he's going to like tea and bananas today!"

Link wasn't sure if he should transform, or keep up the charade to get a good story to tell later. He shook his body to dangle his amiibo to attract the two faunus. Tidus' eyes widened, realizing the resemblance of the figure. "Hey, isn't that-"

Blake's eyes began to swell, her face began to turn purple. Her mind began racing only to come to a grim conclusion. "Link...it ate Link!"

"Wait what?" asked the confused monkey. She pointed towards the beast. "That thing ate one of my friends!"

"Wait I think you're overthinking things! I think thats-"

*Gun cocks*

She readied her weapon and aimed point blank. "I'll avenge you. I promise!"

"Whoa hold on Rambo!" Tidus yelled as he put her in a full nelson.

"It wasn't supposed to end like this Link!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Uh oh!", Link thought. "Now might be the time to turn back." His body dissolved into dark pixels and formed back into the shape we all know and love. "Hello!"

Blake immediately threw Tidus over her and pointed her weapon once time with the face of an assassin. Link had sweat pouring down his face and waved nervously. "Um, I'm still alive?"

"That's a problem", she replied Blake pulled the trigger and unleashed bullet hell on our Hylian. Link immediately pulled out his shield and crouched to guard against the raining bullets. Link peeked over his shield after she was done shooting. Too quick to react to the incoming shadow, Link was grabbed by the collar and was greeted by our feline huntress.

"Why!? How did you - After all this time!" She couldn't finish her sentences. She was far too frustrated and angry.

Link smirked, "I may not be a faunus, but my nose is no slouch. After I caught your scent, I couldn't stop knowing I had a lead."  
Blake gave our green hero a somber look. Guilt began to eat her up inside. "I've been gone for days…"

Link placed his hand on the side of her cheek. "It wasn't too bad, you smelled nice."

Blake blushed, "And the others?"

"Even Weiss is looking for this damsel."

She let our hero go and placed her hand on her chest, not making eye contact. After the short reunion, Blake introduced Link to Sun, ultimately killing the Tidus joke. She then explained her past with the faunus civil rights movement, and her previous affiliation with the white fang. "So here I am: a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow." Blake wiggled her ears under the bow.

Link was taken aback by Blake's origins. She held a more dark sinister story behind her past. Yet to him, it made her feel more human, despite her faunus heritage. "So you left due to the leader's radical ideals and violence. That takes a lot of courage Blake."

Blake frowned, "It doesn't take much courage to run."

"Yet here you are; you could always run anytime," Link said crossing his arms.

"Me and sun want to find the truth behind these robberies. Similar to the ones your team saw the other day." Blake closed her eyes with her chin rested on her hand. "I have a hard time believing the white fang are behind these robberies. They've never needed that much Dust before."

Sun slammed his right hand into his left palm. "What if they did?" He began to pace around the green lad and cat character. "I mean... the only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there! Right?"

Link's eyes widened. "You're absolutely right! But where would we go?"

"Well, while I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas."

"How huge?" Blake asked.

"Huge. Big Schnee Company freighter."

Link walked with his hands ready on the Master sword's hilt. "Time to pay a little visit to the port."

Later that night, Blake, Sun, and Link agreed to rendezvou from afar up on a rooftop at the port. Blake had just witnessed a huge shipment of Schnee Dust Company Dust from Atlas. Sun jumped right behind Blake, and Link used his Clawshot to get on the roof the duo was on.

"What's the sitch?" Link asked.

"They've offloaded the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there," Blake replied.

"Cool", sun said as he held out an apple for his new friends. "I stole you guys some food!"

"Do you always break the law without giving a second thought?" Blake asked.

"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun countered.

Blake gave him an angry glare.

"Okay too soon."

The wind began to blow through and the trio looked up to see a Bullhead , the same aircraft Cloud fought in his first encounter in Remnant. The ship was flashing its searchlight for a landing spot, and descended in the middle of the large containers. The ship extended a ramp and what came out was a hooded figure with a fanged mask.

"Oh no…" Blake said remorsely

"Are they who you call the White Fang?" Link asked as he pointed at the man with a bloody wolf on his uniform.

The feline faunus gazed at the scene with sadness. "Yes... I was really hoping that I was wrong." She closed her eyes after the revelation, only for her to open them right back up when she hears a sinister voice.

"Hey! What's the holdup!?" It was Roman who was throwing gestures widely and coming down the ramp. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?"  
"This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a Human. Especially not one like that." Anger boiled inside her as she unsheathes the blade of her Gambol Shroud and jumps off the roof.

Sun was startled with Blake's rash behavior. "Hey, what are you doing?!"

Link looked towards sun and knew he had to adapt quickly before anyone gets seriously injured. "Be ready to jump in when she needs back up!"

Blake snuck around and hid behind a container, peeking around a corner to see our Villain continuing to berate her people.

"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!" Blake saw an attack of opportunity and ran up behind him with her blade at his throat."What the- Oh, for f-"

"Nobody move!" Blake yelled cutting the man off.

Members of the White Fang took aim and equipped their swords

"Whoa! Take it easy there, little lady."

The White Fang closed in on her as she used her free hand to remove her bow, causing the members to stop in their tracks as they see one of their own committing this act.

"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?"

The White Fang lowered their aggro and were unsure of what to do.

Roman laughed hysterically. "Oh, kid, didn't you get the memo?"

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together!"

"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation."

The air instantly filled with turbines blowing rapid winds around the scene. Two more Bullheads arrived on the scene with Blake watching in shock. Roman grinned and aimed his cane at the heroine's feet, and caused a large explosion and catapulting him.

"Blake!" Link yelled as him and Sun leaped into air.

Roman slowly walked his way to the damage he'd caused to the scene. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty..."

Roman's little taunt was interrupted with a loud slap to the face. Alas it was a banana peel that was shot from up above. Annoyed, he let out a growl and looked up to see a Monkey handing out bananas to a green archer. Link shot the banana arrows that Sun had supplied while the Monkey landed his two feet on the villain's face.  
"Leave her alone!" Sun yelled.

White Fang members dropped into the scene from Bullheads, standing by their leader and surround Sun and Link.

"You're not the brightest banana in the bunch, are you, kid?" Roman then snickered at Link. "And you… your combat skirt isn't exactly up to par with our modern fashion and battle standards. What are you, some kind of fairy boy?"

Link smirked, "My combat robe alone already makes this an unfair fight." He performed a backflip and threw his boomerang right towards Sun. Sun pulled his collapsible red staff Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang; Sun hit the boomerang back at a random White Fang soldier which causes him fall. The boomerang ricochets right back to Link with the warrior hitting it right back at another unsuspecting victim. They both continue to hit the boomerang back and forth while dodging slashes from the White Fang. Each time they strike the flying object, The Gale winds of the Boomerang become stronger, causing the victims that have fell to be swept up by the strong winds and twirl around helplessly. Once the Gale boomerang rounded up all its victims, it headed towards Link with the green hero charging his sword. Just before the boomerang could come any closer, Link unleashed his great spin, creating a knockback so great it ricochet the boomerang back with flames erupting from the winds. Sun held his staff similar to how a baseball player would hold a bat, and knocked all the members out of the boomerang with all his might. White Fang soldiers were dispersed everywhere with one flying over an annoyed Roman. The mob boss growled and aimed his staff at sun, firing a shot while LInk leaps in front of Son with his shield.

"He's mine!" Blake said as she immediately leaped into action and swoops in with blurry afterimages as she swipes away at Roman. Roman however, was no slouch, and he deflects each strike of her blade at incredible speeds. The shadowy warrior continues her dashes, jumps, slides to find a place to land a hit. Roman was one step ahead of her the entire way, and instead manages to land a few hits on her and one final blow causes the black Faunas to go down.

Sun jumps in as soon as Blake goes down and disconnects his staff in two, creating rings of fire with his shotgun nunchucks. Sun twirled and spun his weapons rapidly, firing shot after shot to overwhelm his opponent. Despite the sheer speed of the weapon and the force of the bullets flying at him, Roman managed to deflect every single attack. With just a half-second Link came in with the Jump Strike where he deflected Roman's staff from both sides and finished with a hard downward strike which caused a shockwave and blast the villain back.

Roman regains his composure and sets his sights on a container hanging by a crane right above the trio. He gets up and shoots right at the supports, causing the container to fall. Blake leaps behind it, and Link clawshots to the nearest building, but Sun barely misses the falling object when he leaps forward. Sun realized that he just ended up right at the end of Roman's cane. Before he could pull the trigger, a giant green beam crescent makes impact near Roman and Sun. They both look up to see where the beam came from and to their surprise, three more had shown up for the party.

Ruby had her Crescent Rose extended and combat ready. Cloud swung his sword and dug it right onto the concrete roof.

"You heard the loud explosion as well?" Cloud asked.

"Not everyday you hear an explosion at the port." Ruby replied.

Roman removed all his attention from Sun. "Well, hello, Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Penny approached in between the duo. "Ruby, are these people your friends?"

"Penny, get back!" Ruby says while looking back at her. Roman saw the opportunity and pulls the trigger on her. Before Cloud could react, The bullet makes impact, launching the red one from the force of the explosion. "AAAAAH!"

Roman gave off the most stereotypical maniacal laugh. Penny and Cloud looked at each other, and nodded as if they communicated their plan through telepathy. The both got combat ready and glared towards Roman as they walked forward.

"Cloud!? What are you doing!? You're going to get her hurt!" Ruby yelled as she raised her hand with a futile attempt to stop them.

Penny smiled. "Don't worry, Ruby. I'm combat ready!"

Penny's back mechanically opens up, and comes out a lone sword that multiplies into many blades that seem to magically hover around her back.

"YUP! DEFINITELY WEIRDER THAN RUBY!" Cloud thought as his eyes widened from the shocking revelation of the mechanical child. Cloud shook this off and got his head back into the game. "Let's mosey!"

Cloud equipped his Ice and Fire Materia as they both leap off the roof. As Cloud descended, he gathered up all the magic he could into one hand. "Ice make wave!" The soldier slammed his fist so hard into the concrete it shattered around where the White Fang were standing. Unfortunately for them, a tidal wave of ice bursted from the ground, effectively freezing or knocking anyone who got in its way. As Penny landed she created a barrier of spinning steel while Cloud set it ablaze, effectively turning it into a fire gatling gun. Penny rained literal hell upon the White Fang soldiers, burning them to a crisp, nearly hitting Sun and Link.

"Whoa!" Sun yelled as he ran off to find a safe place.

"Seriously Cloud!? Whatever happened to that speech about smokey the bear you eco-terrorist?!" Link yelled flailing his arms.

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Well, we're not in the forest!"  
Link facepalmed. "That's your reason!?"

Their banter was unfortunately interrupted by three Bullheads who began to open fire to the battlefield. Link jumps in front of penny to shield her with Cloud coming to his side use his massive sword to help extend the barrier. Penny launches her swords towards a building behind them and grabs the duo to pull them back with her strings. The mechanical child then swirled her swords in front her and commanded the weapons to form a green ball of energy. She punches with both arms, shooting off bright green lasers and slicing two of the Bullheads in half. Ruby watch the Bullheads fall as they descend overhead. Ruby, Link and Cloud were all stunned by her speed, strength, and odd gadgets.

Penny shot her swords towards the remaining Bullhead, seizing the aircraft under her control. Link and Cloud both grab penny and run with all their might, dragging the Bullhead down even lower until Penny finally swings her arms downwards; effectively slamming the aircraft to smithereens.

Roman desperately runs off as quick as possible, watching the scene from afar. "These kids just keep getting weirder…" He used his cane to close the doors, and the jet takes off, retreating once again with another loss.

Later, after a frantic event; Cloud, Link, Ruby, and Blake all await for their team's arrival with Sun playing the straggler. The police that surrounded the area had probed our heroes about the event that had transpired earlier. The gang sat in silence. That silence, however, was soon to be interrupted when the rest of team RWBY and CLIM arrived.

"We'll leave you guys to face the wrath," Cloud said as he walked towards his team.

Ruby panicked, and broke out of her shell. "Oh no you don't! You're the one with ice powers so you're taking the hit!" She grabbed him by the waist, pulling with all her might to drag him back. The SOLDIER marched on, unfazed by the little red one's constant whining.

"Sis, I don't think that's very appropriate for the public eye." A very devious voice said.

"Ugh, seriously! Get a room!" Said a disgruntled Weiss.

Little Red blushed to no end. Her face heated up real fast and her face was doing its best to keep a calm look. Her body and her brain would not cooperate with each other unfortunately. "Wait a min - what! I was jus- Ugggghh! You guys know this is not what it looks like! Back me up Cloud!" Alas, Cloud had already reunited with his group. "That's the second time today!"

Link and Blake were in their own bubble, away from the antics of their team for a while. What little time they had together before Weiss would interrupt was time they were going to take full advantage of. Link gave her the most genuine smile she's received in a long time. It was almost impossible to look him in the eye straight. He had put up with so much from our black feline she thought. Her constant running, vague back story, and secretive personality are just the tip of the iceberg. Yet, despite being in the dark for most of the ride, he stuck with her. Not only that, he'd gotten into a situation that he does not fully understand.

She breathed in slowly, and let out a big sigh. "I…. I just want to say I'm really sorry for putting you through so much for the past few days."

Link cocked his head, and let out a playful chuckle. "What on earth are you talking about?"

Blake was puzzled. "What am I talking about!? You went on a wild goose chase, and fought a dangerous cult that I got wrapped up in! What do -"

The Hylian quickly put his finger over her lips, and with the other hand digging into his pocket. Blake was anxious. She knew of the bottomless adventure pouch and the dangers it brought.

"Close your eyes", He said in a coy tone.

She closed her eyes, and her anxiety elevated even higher.  
"Open."

When she opened her eyes, she was greeted by a neat packed treat with the word Snickers. She blinked a couple of times, taken aback by the sudden gift. "Uh…"

"You're not yourself when you're hungry."

For the first time in a long time, the huntress burst out in laughter. The feelings of bleakness and hostility were gone in an instant. All because of a candy bar. Our swordsman laughed along side with her. Feeling blissful that he was able to bring her back to normal.

"Why a candy bar?"

"You're going to need it when you sit through her lecture." He said as he pointed to the white haired mistress marching her way.

Link gave her a wink and walked towards his teammates, and gave a waving gesture.

Her faced turned bright red, and her stomach felt as if it was floating. It was something she might have experienced before. But it was so long ago she forgot what it felt like.  
Team RWBY were left to reconcile between Blake and Weiss; leaving team CLIM to discuss their own matters.

"Well, looks like our friends had quite a party tonight." Said Ike.

Cloud rolled his eyes to one corner and smacked his teeth. "Yeah, some party that was. I must have not gotten enough to drink. You know, since I still have memories of a crazy chick with swords coming out of her back."

Both Ike and Marth blinked a couple of times.

"It's a long story."

"Well I would have much rather been in your position," said an exhausted king. "Honestly, why does it take much more energy to reason than to fight?"

"You mean reason with her." Ike said pointing at Weiss with a grin.

"I was getting there."

The whole crew turn their heads towards the radiant knight. Ike was feeling uneasy. Surely, he hasn't done anything wrong. At least, not that he could think of. "What?"

Link crossed his arms. "It's just not fair Ike. Cloud and I had to fight a cult. Marth had to play psychiatrist, and you just had to sit back and relax."

Ike put his hands behind his head. "It's not my fault you guys decided to hang with the crazies. Yang is just that cool." He looked towards the blonde mistress and smiled. She felt a presence and caught him red handed. He gave her a wink knowing there was no playing it off. Yang in return, blew him a kiss.

Cloud stomach churned. "Alright, enough. You guys need a room."

The rest of the team got a kick out of Cloud's weak heart.

"Very funny guys."

Marth regained his composure. "Back to more important matters; Link if you will?

Link nodded. "From the way Master hand conveyed our mission, he made it sound like a 'simple save the world mission'. I'm assuming you all thought it was to protect the citizens of remnant from the Grimm?"

The rest of the team nodded in response.

"I thought so, but isn't it strange Ozpin would hire a bunch of overpowered smashers from other realms just to eradicate a bunch of Grimm. Surely, they can very well do that on their own."

Cloud held his chin while resting his arm on the other. "There's something definitely bigger than the Grimm."

Marth flipped his hair. "By something, you mean someone?"

"These White Fang probably aren't your everyday thugs. Ike replied. "They're too organized; and I bet that Turtwig guy you and Link fought earlier has even more connections."

Marth chuckled. "He's not a pokemon. Anyways, with all that in mind, that makes this organization a lot more dangerous than the Grimm."

Cloud turned his head to see that Team RWBY had just patch things up.

"Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" Sad the tiny fearless leader.

"Looks like things are going to get interesting."

 **End note:**

 **Confession, I'm obviously not the greatest writer. (I'm actually a computer science major). I started this because me and my girlfriend are really big fans of Smash and RWBY. One day she asked, "Wouldn't be cool if there was ever a crossover between RWBY and Smash?"**

 **Much to her surprise, I decided to write this for her. I knew she loved to read, and she loved the crazy stuff I thought of in my head. Thus, CLIM came to be. I thought this was going to be a short term thing with a couple of one shots.**

 **Ironically, writing this became really fun, and I see why a lot of people go on FanFiction! So I kept going, and going until...I got kinda burnt out. Until a fateful day that changed me forever.**

 **My girlfriend got hit by a car. Scared to death, I thought I was going to lose her forever. I wrote more to cope when she was in the hospital. A couple a months later, she's healed and better than ever. From that point on, I knew I have to continue. I have to finish CLIM!**

 **This is for Anna.**

 **This is for the wonderful readers of FanFiction.  
The amazing fans of CLIM**

 **Thank you.**

 **See you in CLIM Volume II!**


	15. Author's note

_**Volume 2 is now published as its own story. Sorry for the confusion! Just click on the author or search: CLIM and you should see CLIM: Volume 2.**_


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